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[[WMG:[[center: [-''VideoGame/EldenRing'' '''[[Characters/EldenRing Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingTheTarnished The Tarnished]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMarika Marika]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''Outer Gods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingGodfrey Godfrey]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMorgott Morgott]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMohg Mohg]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn Radahn]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRykard Rykard]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRanniTheWitch Ranni the Witch]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]
!The Outer Gods
!!WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS
Unseen and phenomenally powerful entities from outside the world, said to be similar in nature and might to the Greater Will. Few mortals are aware of their existence; those who do call them "outer gods" of various different motifs. Greater in strength and power, even beyond Marika and her ilk, these entities have exerted their influence ever since the ancient history of Lands Between, and some are still trying to expand their reach even further. Unseen and acting through proxies and catspaws, they nevertheless wield tremendous influence over the setting of ''Elden Ring'' and its plot and backstory. Many of them act as rivals to the Greater Will, and some have direct influence in some of the game's MultipleEndings.
The exact number and identity of the outer gods is impossible to determine, due to occasionally conflicting information in the lore, plus the Golden Order having actively sought to erase or distort the knowledge of its rivals. Nevertheless, the following deities can be reasonably identified:
* The Greater Will itself, the higher power that bestowed the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Golden Order the tree imposes, who guided Marika before the Shattering.
* The Dark Moon, an entity associated with glintstone sorceries and the night sky, and the only outer god whom the Greater Will has an explicit alliance with.
* The Scarlet Rot, described as "Rot itself", a manifestation of disease, decay, and rebirth.
* The Frenzied Flame, an entity associated with madness and chaos that is hated and feared across the Lands Between.
* The Formless Mother, also known as the "Mother of Truth", a being of formless burning blood that is worshipped by the Bloody Fingers.
* The Outer God of the Twinbird, an entity affiliated with ghostflame and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.
* The "fell god" of the giants, a once-great entity associated with fire whose influence over the Lands Between was mostly wiped out when Marika annihilated its servants, the giants.
Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Outer God of the Twinbird. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.
Due to the outer gods' presence, nature, and motives being central to the history of the setting and the plot of the game, '''all spoilers involving them are unmarked''', so tread carefully.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:In General]]
'''Tropes applying to most or all of the outer gods:'''
* AboveTheGods: While they are not invincible or all-powerful (one of them was [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome defeated by a mortal]]), the game makes it clear their strength is far above the demigods and supposed "one true god" Marika (who is herself empowered by a similar being). The Scarlet Rot can ascend an [[ChosenOne Empyrean]] to the rank of God in Truth while imprisoned and the Formless Mother can do this too. And the Frenzied Flame is even more powerful. [[spoiler:Its unleashed strength can [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] and split the Erdtree]]. This provides a solid link to them, the Greater Will and the [[spoiler:Dark Moon]] the only other beings confirmed to have such power.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Whether or not the One Great described by Hyetta, speaking on behalf of the Frenzied Flame, even ''exists'', and if it does, whether or not it is an outer god. Hyetta describes it as the original form of life in Lands Between, fractured and divided into various lifeforms due to a mistake from the Greater Will. However, there is no information whatsoever about One Great's nature of being, as it is only hinted as an outer god because of circumstantial clues and the fact its state of being is a concern of the Frenzied Flame, which is definitively an outer god.
** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: All of them to a lesser or greater degree:
** The Greater Will seems to be ''mostly'' good, but how much of that is colored by the perception of its human followers is ambiguous. It abandoned the Lands Between for reasons unknown once Marika defied it, and it also ambiguously tolerates the Scarlet Rot's intercession in its affairs, despite the fact that the Will's own followers view being infected with Rot as a FateWorseThanDeath.
** The Dark Moon's affiliation with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the fallingstar beasts and Astel paints it as horrifying by the Earth-like standards of the Lands Between, but it seems to view those creatures as little more than animals. Its glintstone grows and consumes surrounding land and life, and both the starborne beasts and the glintstones were apparently sent to the Lands Between ''by accident'', or at least not deliberately. The closest it seems to get to intentionally interacting with mortals is providing means to encourage self discovery and that only if said mortals contact it first.
** The Scarlet Rot and its followers seem to consider the horrible fates inflicted on those with Scarlet Rot -- their flesh rotting, their mind decaying, their soul withering -- as some sort of baptism so they can be reborn into their kindred. In particular, Sage Gowry believes Millicent being consumed by her rot due to despair and becoming a scarlet rot flower to be utterly "magnificent" with no malice whatsoever, finding it a joyous occasion. Despite Malenia and Millicent being the two proxies it works through during the events of the game, both of them hate the Rot and seek to throw off its influence -- something that the outer god doesn't seem to mind, or even be aware of. Notably, the fact that the Rot-blessed Malenia was named Empyrean by the Two Fingers indicates the Greater Will, or at least its envoys, do not view the Scarlet Rot's motives and methods negatively.
** The Frenzied Flame views all life as an aberration created by the Greater Will, and seeks to return life to its original, singular state -- an act which would necessitate the destruction of ''every living thing'', from humans to plants and animals and even fungi and microorganisms. Its adherents view this as a good thing, and they also willingly allow the Flame to blind them as it fills them with [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow esoteric knowledge]], offering their pus-filled eyes as "grapes" to Hyetta in order to inflict her with the Flame's madness, a fact which initially disturbs her but which she soon grows to relish.
** The Formless Mother relishes in pain and agony, not only in the inflicting of it in others but in ''herself''; her incantations involve maiming her [[note]]''somehow,'' as she is without form as her epithet implies[[/note]] and allowing her blood to manifest in the mortal realm. She "blesses" her champion Mohg with burning blood, a fate that seems agonizing yet which both the Mother and Mohg himself view positively, and bestowed the same upon Mohg's twin Morgott, a fate Morgott never asked for. This is especially bizarre as Morgott is an impossibly devout follower of the Golden Order, who is otherwise unaffiliated with her in any way. Notably for the Formless Mother, while her followers will typically inflict blood loss when they attack their foes, she does not grant immunity to blood loss the same way those inflicted with Scarlet Rot are immune to it: Wounds are sacred to her.
** The one who sent the Twinbird has the most obscure motivations of all. The Deathbirds appear to hold "death" as sacred, seeing as they devote their lifetime to burn the remains of the dead and rake their ashes, but the birds were also known to make pacts with priests who swore to become their guardians in exchange for a "distant resurrection", which mean they are not particularly against resurrections.
** The fell god of the giants is the only one to which this doesn't apply, simply because almost ''nothing'' is known about it. What little is understood is that it both inhabited the giants and ''enslaved'' them, and both parties viewed this as a benevolent act.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The outer gods are shown to be able to [[WindsOfDestinyChange alter the destiny]] of individuals of their choosing, in much the same manner the Greater Will uses its emissaries the Two Fingers to choose individuals to be its Empyreans to bear the Elden Ring.
** After studying the stars, various sorcerers encountered "Moons" which guide them using the very stars. The Carian royal family in particular was granted knowledge about various truths of the universe and the Sorceries they wield, eventually culminating with Ranni, who is able to channel the Dark Moon with her Sorcery. Radahn's action of blocking falling stars and the light of the distant stars had halted this for a while, but his defeat allows the Dark Moon to once again guide Ranni.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared to [[TheChosenMany the people of Great Caravan due to their despair and curse for the world]], and sent its emissary the Three Fingers to choose individuals with the potential of becoming its divine manifestation -- the Lord of Chaos. Shabriri is also granted the ability to BodySurf corpses so he can continue preaching about its influence.
** The Scarlet Rot foregoes using any emissary, as it blessed Malenia ''directly in the womb'' with Rot. It's unclear what factors allowed it to do so, given most instances of outer gods directly blessing individuals generally happen because said individuals encountered, contacted, or attracted their attention in some way, and Malenia certainly was unable to as a fetus. There are a number of factors which might explain this[[note]]as Malenia was born from Marika and Radagon -- who are the same person -- which Goldmask implicitly calls an imperfection in the Golden Order, it is possible the twins born of them are not under Erdtree's Grace and thus ripe for outer gods to directly influence; it is also possible Greater Will does not view Scarlet Rot in an antagonistic manner like it does outer gods of fire, and thus has no issue with the Rot blessing Malenia -- as despite Malenia's Rot being a great danger to everything around her since ''birth'', the Two Fingers still chose her to be a candidate for Empyrean[[/note]], but none of them can be confirmed.
** The Formless Mother came to Mohg as a child and taught him how to draw upon her power through Blood Incantations. She later tasked him with kidnapping one of the Empyreans so she could corrupt them with her blood into a vassal, whom Mohg could wed to become "the Lord of Blood".
** Dragonlord Placidusax was Elden Lord in an age before Godfrey and Marika, suggesting that he and his spouse were chosen as the Greater Will's foremost emissaries. Notably, despite his god[[note]]Not "outer god", so presumably a deity similar to Marika.[[/note]] having fled the Lands Between in the aftermath of most of the dragons abandoning it for loyalty to Marika's Golden Order, Placidusax is said to be stalwartly awaiting its return.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (death, disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: At least a few of them appear to be empowered by faith and worship in some way. One of them (the Frenzied Flame) awakened in the Lands Between by a curse of despair chanted by the people of the Great Caravan upon losing their cherished home. The influence of the fell god seems tied to their followers, with the fell god's influence waning considerably when the giants were wiped out.
* TheCorruption: At least three of the outer gods (the Dark Moon, the Scarlet Rot, and the Frenzied Flame) have their essences manifest as forces which can corrupt Lands Between and its inhabitants to varying degrees. See their individual folders for more.
* ColorMotif: Just like the Greater Will is heavily associated with gold and the Dark Moon with blue, some of the other Outer Gods are associated with red:
** Scarlet Rot is called such due to its vivid scarlet color -- most notably Caelid and the Lake of Rot being heavily tinted in almost all aspects. It also generally goes together with muted, organic colors that show up on the plants/mushrooms that accompany its influence.
** Yellow is heavily associated with the Flame of Frenzy. Many of its items are yellow and it's directly called the "yellow flame of frenzy".
** The Twinbird's Outer God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds have a more solid black fire with palish blue.
** The Formless Mother and the weapons/spells that derive from her and her cult are represented by a deep, bloody shade of red with some black mixed in.
** The fell god is associated with the rich orange-red of forge flames.
** While primarily associated with gold, the Greater Will has a subtle connection to red too. Specifically in the form of the Primordial Crucible (the form the Erdtree took before the Golden Order) which is linked with red-tinged gold. The red lightning of Ancient Dragons (one of whom is the Elden Ring's previous wielder) may be linked to the Greater Will too as it is noted to be tinged with gold.
* CosmicChessGame: They seem to be in a struggle with each other to spread their influence across the Lands Between, and mostly do so by using native inhabitants of the realm as proxies:
** The Greater Will has exerted the most direct influence over the Lands Between, to the point that its Golden Order serves as the basis for the laws of reality itself. Raising Marika to godhood and gifting her the Elden Ring to cement her power, it directed her to war against the giants, servants of an outer god. It tolerated reverence for the Moons done by the Liurnians (likely because they had initiated conversation with the Dark Moon, rather than the other way around) and, for whatever reason, also either allowed the Scarlet Rot to bless Malenia in the womb with its Rot or took no steps to curtail its influence, even naming her an Empyrean. The Greater Will's hold on the Lands Between has started to slip as Marika, its foremost servant, rebelled against it and shattered the Elden Ring. Having abandoned the Lands Between due to Marika's betrayal, it is poised to be usurped by outer gods, which indeed is possible for the Dark Moon, the Frenzied Flame, and Death in some of the game's MultipleEndings. In the base ending, the Golden Order is established as-is with the PlayerCharacter as Elden Lord; the Age of Order ending establishes a modified version of the Golden Order in which gods like Marika are no longer allowed to act as they please. The Blessing of Despair ending establishes a twisted return of the Golden Order stained by the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, in which all present and future generations will be barred from returning to the Erdtree.
** The Dark Moon is rather unique compared to the Greater Will or the others with known influence in Lands Between, in that it doesn't seem to be actively spreading its influence. The phenomenon of its falling stars hitting Lands Between seems to occur naturally, as the Dark Moon didn't make its existence known to the ancient humans who discovered its [[AlienKudzu Glintstones]] until after the ancient astrologers developed Sorcery using the stones and then encountered it in their studies of stars. After that, its influences are through [[{{Lunacy}} guiding moonlight]] and very personal in nature to each individual seeking its guidance, as the likes of Ranni, Azur, Lusat and various others were all inspired with different Sorceries from it. Even the star spawn creatures rising from its meteors are not implied to be directed or guided by it, instead [[FisherKingdom evolving and gaining traits based on where they landed in Lands Between]], with equal chances of becoming either sapient and civilized beings like Alabaster and Onyx Lords or animalistic and calamitous forces like fallingstar beasts and Astel. The Dark Moon can assume influence over the Lands Between in place of the Greater Will if the player pursues the Age of the Stars ending, but even that is largely due to the machinations of Ranni and the PlayerCharacter and Ranni's descriptions imply that the Dark Moon's influence on the world will not extend further than keeping other Outer Gods at bay.
** The Scarlet Rot once had an attempt to spread its influence at some point in history, but was halted under unknown circumstances and now [[SealedEvilInACan a part of its essence is sealed beneath]] [[GardenOfEvil the Lake of Rot]], turning it into [[LeakingCanOfEvil the hellish pit it is now]]. Even so, it doesn't stop [[PoisonousPerson creatures of rot]] from being born there, nor does it stop madmen from forming the [[BreedingCult Order of Rot]] to worship the Scarlet Rot, mutate themselves and others into rot creatures, and facilitate its spread. It also "blessed" [[TheChosenOne Malenia]] in the womb with the Rot, and the main goal of the Order of Rot (and, implicitly, the god they worship) is to get either Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and "bloom," becoming true avatars to the Scarlet Rot. Interestingly, the fact that the Greater Will took no steps to prevent the Scarlet Rot from infecting Malenia and that its envoys declared her an Empyrean indicates that it may not view Scarlet Rot as an enemy -- for whatever reason.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared prior to the Shattering to Shabriri and the Great Caravan who fell to [[DespairEventHorizon despair when they were buried alive underground for their heretical beliefs]]. Unlike the others known to influence Lands Between, the Frenzied Flame isn't keen on forming a cult, but instead dedicates its chosen ones to spread the corrupting flame of [[PowerBornOfMadness madness]] to other life and to [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos across the land against any form of order, chiefly being the Golden Order which Marika imposed]]. Its end goal is fairly vague, with those who possess insight to its nature claiming it desires to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all life on this world]] so these lifeforms [[AssimilationPlot can return to their original primordial form called the "One Great"]], but whatever it wants, it involves [[WorldWreckingWave burning the entire world with Frenzied Flame]]. Although the servants of other outer gods have succeeded in sealing away its envoy, the Three Fingers, it can still get its wish if the PlayerCharacter meets with the Fingers and takes in the Frenzied Flame, becoming the Lord of Chaos.
** During the Shattering wars, Mohg contacted an entity he calls "Formless Mother" and "Mother of Truth" in the hopes of [[DealWithTheDevil resurrecting Miquella as his divine consort and foundation of his dynasty]]. She complied, [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge granting him the knowledge]] to invent BloodMagic incantations derived from her blood and Mohg formed [[ReligionOfEvil a cult to spread bloodshed]] to harvest enough blood as sacrifices to resurrect Miquella. Her blessing of Mohg's reluctant twin Morgott, and the apparent failure of Miquella to be resurrected, may indicate that the Formless Mother has [[UnwittingPawn greater plans than Mohg realizes]].
** The Deathbirds are mothered by a "twinbird" envoy of an outer god associated with death. They were once prominent prior to the Age of the Erdtree, comparable to {{psychopomp}}s in role and described as keepers of "ghostflames" which burn the remains of the dead into ashes. They are considered malevolent deities by the Golden Order, which contributed to their fading into obscurity. Its motivations are by and large a mystery, because the Deathbirds have largely gone into hiding.
** The Fire Giants were heavily implied to [[{{Precursors}} have built a civilization]] who worshipped and [[DivineAssistance borrowed the power]] of a "fell god" which dwells in their flames and their very bodies, and [[DivineConflict this is heavily implied to be the reason why Marika and her Empire were ordered by the Greater Will to eradicate them]]. Though it's never explicitly referred to as an outer god, the fact the flame within the Forge of Giants remains undying despite Marika's attempt to extinguish it -- even with the power of Elden Ring -- and its ability to burn the Erdtree implies it is one. Whatever plans the fell god had appear to have fallen with the giants' civilization, and now it is simply used as a stepping stone to overcome the obstacles set forth by the Greater Will and, potentially, allow other gods to take the stage.
* CosmicEntity: At least two of these beings are noted to influence the cosmos beyond the world of Lands Between, the Greater Will and the Moons. While it doesn't say so outright, the Future Press guide also heavily implies that the beings identified as "outer gods" are from the cosmos; it introduces them by saying that "the fledgling planet was not alone in the vast expanse of the cosmos, and before long a host of outer gods and fell creatures of the starry void took notice of its existence", with the story section about them titled "Visitors From Beyond." Wherever they're from, it's definitely not the Lands Between.
* DespairEventHorizon: A trait shared by the Frenzied Flame and Scarlet Rot is that they have a much easier time taking over their appointed vessels if the vessel experiences great despair, presumably because it causes their will to be broken. In fact, the Frenzied Flame only exists because this horizon was collectively crossed by an entire race.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The outer gods appear to lack a true form which can ''die'', but any physical influence, proxies, and manifestations they have can be beaten back, sealed or killed. Marika's Empire defeated the Fire Giants so thoroughly that their fell god's influence is effectively removed from the land. An ancient god of Rot was said to be defeated and sealed away by a blind swordsman with a sword bestowed by a "fairy", now locked somewhere in the Lake of Rot. The Fingerslayer Blade is also said to be able to harm the Greater Will and its vassals, and Ranni proves she can kill at least the Two Fingers with it. The Fire Giant offers its leg before its chest opens revealing a grotesque face similar to depictions of the fell god; since the fell god was said to reside ''in'' the giants, this suggests the Giant may be channeling or even taken over by the fell god, but it is still defeated just like any other boss. And in all endings, the player challenges and defeats the Elden Beast, an embodiment of the order of the Greater Will.
* DivineConflict: Most of the wars in the history of the Lands Between are a series of secret proxy wars fought by the outer gods for control over the land, and the Shattering is no exception.
* TheDreaded: With the exception of the Greater Will, which is widely viewed as benevolent, and to a lesser extent the Dark Moon, whose glintstones are viewed as dangerous yet important sources of sorcery, almost every outer god invokes fear in those who know of it:
** The Scarlet Rot inflicts a FateWorseThanDeath upon infectees, and Radahn's forces have more or less tapped out of the Shattering entirely in a desperate attempt to contain its spread.
** The Frenzied Flame's infliction of madness and [[OmnicidalManiac desire to end all life]] terrifies anyone who knows of it. Its first adherent, Shabriri, is described as "the most reviled man in history" and is a [[BodySurf Body Surfing]] SerialKiller. Melina [[NotSoStoic uncharacteristically]] ''[[NotSoStoic begs]]'' [[NotSoStoic you]] not to meet with its servants the Three Fingers the closer you draw to them. Even a nomad merchant, one of the very individuals who called it to the Lands Between to begin with, warns you away from the Frenzied Flaming Village.
** The Formless Mother's greatest servants are a cult of {{Serial Killer}}s led by a rapacious SatanicArchetype. Everyone who knows of them hates and fears them, and her by extension.
** The very moniker of "fell god" evokes dread and fear, and generations after the war against the giants has been long concluded, icons of the giants and their lord are used as universal symbols of terror.
** The lightning wielded by the Stoneguard ancient dragons, granted by their deity, was able to hurt the Erdtree. This horrified Marika's empire, to the point some Tree Sentinels become obsessed with becoming dragons to protect their Erdtree, and was a deciding factor in them going to war.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: Most of them act as the source of power for a corresponding school of Incantations used primarily by their followers as a means of strengthening their hold on the world. Yet they seem to care little about who wields their power and for what purposes: the Formless Mother, for instance, does nothing to stop you from using Blood Oath spells to slay Mohg despite his status as her greatest champion.
* EldritchAbomination: All of them. The Greater Will is never referred to as having a body and may, as it is called, be nothing ''but'' will; the Dark Moon lives in outer space and creates AlienKudzu and lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by ''existing''; the Scarlet Rot manifests as a living, sentient disease that corrupts everything it touches; the Frenzied Flame is an intangible force of fire that bestows both knowledge and madness upon its followers, and wishes to return the world to what is effectively primordial soup; the Formless Mother has no physical form, yet the incantation Bloodboon states that it works through carving your hand ''inside her body'' and splattering her blood -- which combusts into flames -- to your enemies; the fell god of the giants seemingly inhabited both the giants themselves as well as their forge, and may actually ''be'' fire in the form of a HiveMind.
* EmotionalPowers: Several of the outer gods are affiliated with emotions in some way:
** The Dark Moon has a heavy individualism theme, with many of those who communed with it such as Ranni, Azur, and Lusat all developing wildly different sorceries based on the creator's own mindset and outlook.
** The Scarlet Rot has some nebulous and unclear ties to its host's emotional state. Malenia is said to have needed to maintain her "pride", "will", and "sense of self" to stop it from breaking out, while Gowry states that Millicent would need to die in despair from [[EtTuBrute the Tarnished's betrayal]] for the Rot's power to bloom properly.
** The Frenzied Flame was implied to come into the world when the people of the Great Caravan despaired after [[BuriedAlive being sentenced to execution via mass burial]] for heresy. Its incantations can also literally kill people by driving them to madness.
* EvilIsBurningHot: As a god of life, fire is anathema to the Greater Will, and so fire is also associated with the most thoroughly (and indiscriminately) antagonistic Outer Gods. Whatever their quibbles with the Golden Order, few residents of the Lands Between are keen on entities that want to burn all life from their world.
* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twinbird's Outer God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
* EvilPowerVacuum: The destruction of the Elden Ring and the waning of the Greater Will's influence on the Lands Between seems to have left it wide open for intrusion by the Outer Gods. Otherwise it's a very bizarre coincidence that Malenia's Rot significantly worsening, Mohg getting into full contact with the Formless Mother and becoming Blood Lord, the Frenzied Flame infecting settlements in the heart of Altus, and the Dark Moon deciding to open the path to Nokron all just happened to coincide with the Shattering.
* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for Twinbird's Outer God, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and Twinbird's Outer God is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* TheGhost: While their influence is certainly felt, none of these entities manifest in the Lands Between. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since as eldritch entities beyond space and time, they might not have a true form and any manifestation they do have can be considered [[FightingAShadow temporary vessels]]. Some of them do downplay this however:
** The Greater Will sent the Elden Beast along with the Elden Ring and has Two Fingers as its heralds. While the Elden Beast's exact role is unknown, each Empyrean chosen to bear the Elden Ring becomes a god as the Greater Will's extension of being or divine proxy. They as well as their consort Elden Lords are explicitly called champions of the Erdtree and the Greater Will, and are referred to as "gods in truth".
** An ancient god described as "Rot itself" was defeated and sealed away near the Lake of Rot at some point in the past. It's ambiguous if this god was a vassal like the Elden Beast, a proxy like Marika, or the outer god itself manifesting, but in any case the Scarlet Rot has marked Malenia as its latest proxy; if she "blooms" three times, she would become a true "goddess" -- a true extension of the Scarlet Rot. The Rot seems to still be a sentient force exerting itself even in this state, as it's capable of spawning fully-formed sapient beings (Kindred of Rot) who can act against its "hosts" (one is shown keeping Millicent prisoner), and Millicent states that Malenia needed "a will that was once her own" and "a sense of self" to resist the Rot.
** The Frenzied Flame also has a herald in the Three Fingers, and anyone powerful enough to harness its flame's true potential to be the Lord of Chaos becomes its proxy.
** An outer god is said to have sent the Twinbird as its envoy, who subsequently spawned the Deathbirds, an entire group of creatures capable of controlling and guiding the souls of the dead.
** The flames of Fire Giants are said to contain the "presence" of their fell god. In particular, the flame in the Forge of the Giants is shown to be inextinguishable even to Marika, so it might be a proxy or even the god's actual physical manifestation in Lands Between. The Fire Giant also manifests a face similar to ancient depictions of the fell god during its BossBattle.
* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the Outer God of the Twinbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twinbird's Outer God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while the Outer God of the Twinbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While not the direct antagonists of the game, their CosmicChessGame and attempt to expand their influences are the cause of ''many'' troubling things the Tarnished has to deal with, from [[ZombieApocalypse Those Who Live in Death]] and alien beasts like Astel and the Crystalians to the threat of the Scarlet Rot and everything to do with the Frenzied Flame. The conflicts between followers of certain outer gods with Marika on behalf of Greater Will have literally shaped the pre-history and history of Lands Between. In many ways, the entire Shattering is nothing more than an elaborate proxy war fought between the outer gods for control of the Lands Between.
* JerkassGods: From a normal human being's perspective, none of the Outer Gods seem to have good plans for humanity: some seem neutral or indifferent, others are downright hostile to humanity or have malicious intent, or their way of spreading influence would completely transform and change humanity as we know it. Even the Greater Will, the one most widely viewed as conventionally "good", abandoned the Lands Between the moment the Shattering started, leaving humanity to the predations of rampaging demigods fighting for power.
* KryptoniteFactor: Unalloyed gold made by Miquella can stop their control on a person; when combined with a component that puts them "outside of time" (like Dragonlord Placidusax's chamber), Miquella's crafts can purge their influence entirely. Mirrorhelms from the eternal cities are designed to be this but only for the Greater Will.
* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the Outer God of the Twinbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
* OurGodsAreGreater: Unlike Marika and her family who fit the typical "humans, but grander" mold of many classic pantheons from world myth, the outer gods are both far more powerful and far more unknowable, being impossibly powerful, cosmic entities from beyond the world. They have an almost Lovecraftian vibe to them.
* PhysicalGod: On 2 different levels:
** The outer gods exist on such a vast scale of existence to the point their envoys and chosen ones themselves are considered divinities. The Two Fingers are worshipped [[OurAngelsAreDifferent almost like angels]] while Empyreans chosen by them to bear the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Elden Beast are all deemed as gods. Malenia, who was blessed with the Rot to become its champion, is effectively the larval form of a goddess and worshipped as such by the Order of Rot. All of these imply the only reason the envoys and champions of outer gods aren't named gods in the game is because the Golden Order faith deems them as alien, heretical beings.
** A number of outer gods have ''direct'' manifestations which ''can'' be physically interacted with and even killed. This is most obvious for the Formless Mother, whose school of magic involves its followers stabbing its veins and spilling its cursed blood through reality itself. The Scorpion's Stinger also states that the Outer God of Rot has a body, which is currently sealed under the Lake of Rot - the weapon itself is a relic of the god (i.e., a body part). The One-Eyed Shield is also said to be a depiction of "the malformed fell god" of the Fire Giants (i.e. it had a form), which along with Marika being said to have slain it on the same item description, indicates it had a body too.
* RealityWarper:
** All known outer gods can alter fate or causality to their will, and their physical manifestations can twist the laws of physics passively or actively: the Glintstones are the basis of Sorcery, and outer gods often exert their presence or essence as different schools of Incantations. Given the Dark Moon can share its guidance even to dwellers of Eternal Cities (which are trapped underground and thus unable to see the stars), and the Formless Mother's followers can reach its formless veins ''anywhere in the world'', it's clear even ''space and time'' don't restrict their influence either. However, they do seem to have limits:
** While they can freely influence any entity of their choosing (regardless of race, even the likes of giants and dragons), they need to ''notice'' their targets first in some way. At least a few outer gods extended their influence into the Lands Between because they were contacted by natives (Dark Moon, Formless Mother), while at least one came to Lands Between because certain elements attracted it (Frenzied Flame).
** They cannot freely affect those who are already under the influence of an outer god; they require a more direct means of intervention to subvert this hold[[note]]the Greater Will needs its herald the Two Fingers to affect Ranni and bind her to be an Empyrean, and the Frenzied Flame needs the Three Fingers to bless a Tarnished guided by Grace to turn them into a potential Lord of Chaos; the Scarlet Rot might ''look'' like an exception to this as it blessed Malenia in the womb, but the circumstances of her birth might have made her unprotected by Golden Order and Erdtree's Grace due to being born from a single god, which is noted to be a flaw in the Golden Order[[/note]].
** Finally, powers born of outer gods can counteract other outer gods. Mirrorhelms, connected to the Eternal Cities and the Carians, are born from the Dark Moon and expressly shield the wearer from the Greater Will. The unalloyed gold researched by Miquella can suppress the Scarlet Rot in one of its bearers, and can also be used to purge the Frenzied Flame from a recalcitrant Lord of Chaos. The flame of the fell god, empowered by Melina's sacrifice, can burn the Erdtree and allow the Tarnished to seek its interior. Radahn proves it is also possible to turn the powers of an Outer God against itself to ward off their influence, as he wielded the gravity powers learned from star spawn to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard slay them]].
* ReligionOfEvil: Many of them have formed these:
** The Scarlet Rot is worshipped by the Order of Rot, consisting of the monstrous Kindred of Rot. Their duty is to spread the Rot as much as they can, forcibly transforming others into more kindred in the process, and also to convince Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and ascend as an avatar of the Scarlet Rot. To that end they've abducted the reluctant Millicent and kept her prisoner. They also attempt to manipulate the Tarnished into betraying Millicent so that her despair causes her to "bloom".
** The Frenzied Flame has its own counterpart to the Two Fingers, the Three Fingers, complete with Finger Maidens who are granted both insight and madness by being fed the diseased eyeballs of its adherents. The entire faith seems to be led by Shabriri, a reviled historical figure who can BodySurf thanks to the Frenzied Flame and uses this ability to spread chaos through the world.
** The Bloody Fingers are the most overt, being a religious cult of assassins based in a fortified underground cathedral led by the local SatanicArchetype.
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the Outer God of The Twinbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
** The Fire Monks were set to guard the fell god of the giants, but have grown to worship it instead, and have taken advantage of the Shattering to set up militant forts and encampments throughout the Lands Between.
** The dragon cult seeks to "worship" dragons by hunting them and devouring their hearts in an act of Dragon Communion. The result of this is that practitioners begin to grotesquely mutate into Magma Wyrms, bloated monsters that are a hideous reflection of the dragons they worship. Note that the dragons themselves strongly object to the killing of their fellows; Ekzykes, even after being infected by the Scarlet Rot, never forgot his hatred and drive for revenge against Dragon Communers.
* UnreliableNarrator: Most of what we hear about them is filtered either through the mindset of followers of the Greater Will, who will naturally denigrate other gods to make their own look good, or from their own followers, in which the reverse is true. The only other information to go on is buried scraps of history and fables and fairy tales, some of which are contradictory, and necessitates taking all information about the outer gods with a very large grain of salt.
* TheUnreveal: The fell god receives less insight into its personality and motives, as its influence waned in ages past when their followers were either wiped out (Fire Giants, some trolls) or defected to the Greater Will (most trolls).
[[/folder]]
!!Confirmed Outer Gods:
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
\\
In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
\\
Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
\\
Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
----
* AchillesHeel:
** Fire, at least for creatures infected by the Rot itself. Virtually every creature in Caelid and the Lake of Rot are weak to flame, and fire is what Radahn's army uses to contain and purge the creatures infested by the Rot.
** Clean, flowing water acts an antithesis to the Rot. The god itself was supposedly imprisoned beneath the Lake of Rot by the actions of a mysterious swordsman who was aided by a water fairy, and the same swordsman was implied to be the one who trained Malenia in how to use her sword. The Rot has thematic connections to ''kegare'', a Shinto belief in spiritual corruption and decay, which is also countered in Shinto by flowing water.
* AndIMustScream: Creatures infected by Scarlet Rot who don't perish or begin mutating usually start fusing with the rot-infected ground. As shown by Greyoll, they don't have to be dead for this to happen. The mother of dragons is fused to the earth of her own barrow, unable to move or defend herself in any way, yet is still alive as she slowly rots to death.
* AnimalMotifs: Arthropods, fitting for a god of decay. The God of Rot itself is a giant scarlet scorpion according to the Scorpion's Stinger item description, the Kindred of Rot resemble humanoid centipedes that can also shoot out web-like projectiles (Pest Threads), and the "bloomings" of the Rot's vessels (like potentially Malenia and Millicent) are accompanied by Aeonian Butterflies.
* TheAssimilator: Dying from the Scarlet Rot seems to cause the being to be completely consumed by it, turning into strange, fungal ''things'' that can [[BodyHorror still bleed]]. Some dragon corpses, as well as the still-alive Greyoll, can be seen with their massive bodies partially consumed by the Scarlet Rot covered ground.
* BodyHorror: Victims afflicted with the long-term version of Scarlet Rot (as opposed to the short-duration infection that kills you in seconds, but can be dispelled with boluses) wander about in misery with giant poison mushrooms growing out of their heads. The bulbous, fungal growths throughout Caelid were once living things, and they still bleed if you hit them with a weapon. Even Malenia, the Rot's champion, has her body slowly decaying from the inside out, with three of her four limbs being prosthetic, her eyes eaten away to the point of blindness, and much of her skin being diseased and rotten.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: The Scarlet Rot is heavily associated with flowers and butterflies to the point where butterflies ''made'' of Rot are a sign that Malenia has embraced the Rot's power. Adherents of the Order of Rot believe that being infected and transformed by the Scarlet Rot is a beautiful rebirth, with the alien glory of Malenia's Goddess of Rot phase in her boss fight making it clear that they're not entirely wrong (just mostly).
* TheCorruption: Many of the outer gods are guilty of this to some degree, but the Scarlet Rot is the most obvious about it. The Scarlet Rot corrupts the very land, causing everything including the sky above to turn into a sickly blood-red and causes most beings, including ancient and powerful things like dragons, to slowly lose their sanity and their body, which begins rotting to seemingly fuse with the land itself, [[AndIMustScream sometimes while the creature is still alive]]. Certain entities and people will instead mutate into creatures of rot, and the rot itself produces a number of unnatural lifeforms who only exist to cause more rot.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossing this allows the Scarlet Rot more leeway to possess its victims and transform them. Malenia's ability to resist it is tied in with her emotional state, and betraying Millicent at the eleventh hour of her quest causes her to fall into anguish and bloom into a rot flower. The Rot seems to be actively trying to push its hosts past this point (consciously or not) given that Millicent mentions it causes nightmares on top of the regular physical pain.
%%* Expy: Of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Nurgle, the Chaos God of nihilism and disease]]. Like Nurgle, this Outer God is a god of disease, and its Scarlet rot can infect not only the body but also the mind and soul, as General Radahn can attest to. It's also powerful enough to ''[[RealityWarper affect reality itself]]'', tinting the beings and lands alike with its colour. Worshipers of the Scarlet Rot preach it as the embodiment of the cycle of Death and Rebirth, and its infection gains grown when its victims [[DespairEventHorizon fall into despair]]. Malenia is the unwillingly chosen Champion of the Scarlet Rot and she has insect-like wings, much like how Primarch Mortarion, Nurgle's unwillingly chosen, gained insect wings following his transformation into a Daemon Prince.
* FantasticNuke: More like a fantastic ''bioweapon''. Malenia's unleashing of the Rot against Radahn left devestation on the level of a [=WMD=] in its wake, with the effects having spread from their battleground and layed waste to all of Caelid.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Denied by the Rot itself as well as its adherents and worshippers, but fully played straight in the minds of everyone and everything else [[note]]potentially excepting, weirdly enough, none other than the Greater Will[[/note]]. Being infected by Scarlet Rot means, at ''best'', a slow wasting death that reduces you to a haggard shell of your former self and eats your mind until you are at a borderline feral state, with not even demigods being immune. At worst, it means becoming a bulbous, grotesque mass of fungus-like flesh growing into the blighted countryside while ''still conscious'', or even being twisted and "reborn" into something else entirely--a creature devoted to Rot whose only purpose is to spread more Rot. Any potential cure for the Rot is also not known to the population at large; the only commonly known method to prevent it is to KillItWithFire before it can spread.
* FesteringFungus: The Scarlet Rot is heavily affiliated with fungus, with the fungal-like growths across the surface of Caelid and some of the infectees having their heads replaced by giant mushrooms. Interestingly, the way the fungi are arranged and grow alongside other flora resembles a coral reef (albiet a twisted, horrifying version of one).
* FlowerMotifs: The Scarlet Rot is strongly associated with flowers, [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterflies, and the cycle of decay and birth]]. While Scarlet Rot typically kills most things infected ([[DeaderThanDead physically and mentally]]), certain compatible individuals will instead mutate into a creature of rot, a process described as "blooming". Malenia is also accompanied with what appears to be rotten butterflies when she lets her Scarlet Rot "bloom" unleashed, and her ultimate rot incantation, the Scarlet Aeonia, creates an eerily beautiful flower-shaped explosion of infectious mist.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Zigzagged.
** Judging from the fact the only means to alleviate Scarlet Rot build up or cure the status in the game are 4 specific consumables and spells: Preserving Bolus [[note]]which requires rare materials, including one, the Sacramental Bud, that doesn't respawn and can only be farmed as a rare drop from land octopi and dogs in the Writheblood Ruins[[/note]], Speckled Hardtear [[note]]A crystal tear formed in places where Erdtree's droplets fall for long periods of time[[/note]], Flame Cleanse Me spell [[note]]An Incantation invented by the Fire Monks who had turned against Golden Order by worshipping the Flame of the Fell God they were supposed to guard, which burns the body with flames to cure ailments[[/note]] and Law of Regression spell [[note]]one of the most advanced Incantations in Golden Order Fundamentalism, which devotees like Goldmask isn't even able to cast due to being based on Intelligence[[/note]]. The recipes of said consumables are generally ''nowhere'' near any area where the Scarlet Rot runs rampant, while the spells are either heretical to be learned (Flame Cleanse Me) or too ''advanced'' for average practitioners (Law of Regression), meaning it is possible the Scarlet Rot isn't so much incurable as much as the means to cure it being effectively unavailable to most victims who catch it.
** However, the Scarlet Rot can definitively kill the consciousness of immortal beings like demigods and dragons, even infecting Erdtree avatars. As such, the fact gameplay Scarlet Rot can be expunged by simply resting at a site of grace, and that the player's Tarnished respawns as normal after dying to it both mean this trope still applies.
** While unstated, we have pretty clear signs that there are just two kinds of Scarlet Rot infection: acute (HP drops very quickly, will eventually go away if you don't die, the patient functions more or less normally while it's active until they drop dead, can be cured with a bolus or spell) and chronic (slowly rot away over the course of years, excruciating and debilitating pain and reduced level of consciousness and memory, seemingly-incurable). Malenia, Millicent, Radahn, and a bunch of random enemies have the latter, while the former is what can be inflicted in-game with Rot spells and "cured" with the aforementioned methods. The in-game Scarlet Rot status effect rapidly drains health and can kill anything (the damage is percentage-based) without the intervention of magic,[[note]]16.2% Max HP + 1350 damage per proc over 90 seconds for weapon greases and rot pots. 29.7% Max HP + 1170 damage over 90 seconds some of your spells. ''990%'' Max HP + 7,800 damage per proc over 300 seconds for Malenia's uniquely potent version.[[/note]] but it only retains that form for some one to several minutes, after which it will cease to have an effect (you could simply survive it by out-healing the damage, for example). Meanwhile multiple in-universe characters are dealing with long-term infections that don't kill anywhere near as rapidly but are much more difficult to remove. Backing this is the fact that you ''can'' inflict the acute version on characters who are already dying of the chronic version, and the result is a very clear visual difference on their models, usually followed by them dying in seconds (this is especially easy to do on Radahn, who [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration at this point]] has extremely low Rot resistance to the point 1 Rot Pot will proc the status).
* GodzillaThreshold: Radahn's soldiers have largely abandoned the Shattering, instead devoting everything they have to prevent the Rot from spreading beyond Caelid, even as it strains their resources and leaves them vulnerable to other armies.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While mostly unrelated to the main plotline other than being another source of dangerous monsters the Tarnished has to face, it is firmly the fundamental cause of Miquella and Malenia's subplot alongside the more direct Mohg, as it choosing Malenia as its new avatar caused the demigod woman great pain all her life, and drove Miquella's motivations to find a definitive way to ward off the influence of Outer Gods. After Miquella is kidnapped by Mohg and Malenia loses her dignity in the fight against Radahn, the Scarlet Rot is free to ravage Caelid and the Haligtree to apocalyptic results and turn them into breeding grounds for rot-born creatures.
* HostileTerraforming: As an alien god that seeks to reshape the entire world in its own bizarre and inhospitable image, the Rot is Elden Ring's poster-entity for this trope. Caelid, the site of the great Scarlet Rot outbreak of the Shattering, almost looks like another planet, complete with an [[AlienSky ominous red sky]].
* LeakingCanOfEvil: The Rot is sealed inside the Lake of Rot, but is still very much capable of interacting with the world at large, from corrupting Malenia in the womb to creating small pockets of Rot throughout the Lands Between.
* LossOfIdentity: One of the most feared aspects of the Scarlet Rot is that it doesn't just kill you, it erases your very sense of self. Radahn, once a proud and honorable general, has been reduced to a guttural, feral monster eating the corpses of friend and foe alike. Millicent ultimately decides she would rather [[DyingAsYourself die with her memories and ego intact]] than let the Rot take her and erase her sense of being.
* LostInTranslation: It's essentially the god of ''kegare'', a Shinto concept of spiritual uncleanliness that doesn't really have a Western equivalent, broadly translated as defilement, impurity or corruption, though not necessarily moral, and in fact sources of kegare can be fully natural like (as seen in the Scarlet Rot) disease and corpses. Several item descriptions (such as soap) give short explanations of kegare, but you'll still have to be somewhat familiar with Shinto to get the connection between things like still water and centipedes that are associated with the Rot, and why flowing water opposes it.
* MysticalPlague: The Scarlet Rot is both the most feared disease in the history of the Lands Between and also the manifestation of a partially-sealed outer god. It's even capable of infecting wholly inorganic beings, such as Crystalians, or ''metaphysical concepts without tangible form'' like the Great Runes. Going by gameplay, the only things immune to it are lifeless constructs that never had organic material to rot nor a mind to lose (golems, Edtree Burial Watchdogs, etc.- Crystalians don't count because they are sentient beings), illusions, projections, and other such things that aren't really there (Margit, Golden Shade Godfrey, Mohg the Omen), or beings that are completely divine and thus out of the Rot's purview (Radagon & Elden Beast).
* NonIndicativeName: Despite repeatedly being described with {{Flower Motif}}s, the Rot has far more in common with fungi then any sort of flora. This appears to be a reference to real world botanical history, as mushrooms were originally categorized as a type of flower before science advanced enough to recognise the differences.
* NothingIsScarier: We know the "god that was Rot itself" has [[PhysicalGod a physical form]], and we know it's buried beneath or nearby the Lake of Rot but that is it. We don't know what it looks like other than the fact it is possibly a scorpion, how long it's been there and if it has any chance of escaping. We're not even entirely sure what it is, considering the sealed away presence could be anything from a vassal of the outer god similar to the Elden Beast (considered a god in its own right), a previously chosen champion acting as a proxy much like Malenia (who gets called "Goddess of Rot" in her second phase), or even the outer god itself.
* PhysicalGod: The Scorpion's Stinger weapon confirms whatever divine presence is currently sealed beneath the Lake of Rot is a physical being, quite possibly a giant scarlet scorpion if the description is anything to go by [[note]]it's "a ceremonial tool used by heretics, crafted from the relic of a sealed outer god"; 'relic' in religious contexts indicates a body part of a holy being[[/note]], while the description of the Lake of Rot map says "the divine essence of an outer god is sealed away in this land." The Blue Dancer Charm also states a blind swordmaster had defeated this god ages ago, but was only able to seal it away, rather than kill it. However, as described in NothingIsScarier above, the true nature of this ancient god remains unclear.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Blue Dancer Charm talisman describes a legend in which a fairy bestowed a sword to a [[HeroOfAnotherStory blind swordsman]], who defeated and sealed way an ancient god of Rot itself. The location of where it was sealed is not known, though it's likely near the Lake of Rot. However, [[LeakingCanOfEvil the Scarlet Rot can still bless Malenia to become its proxy and spread the rot.]]
* ShoutOut: With Gowry's quest being a WholePlotReference to the poem ''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/19/Edward_gorey_insect_god_by_insectgod-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190610003409 Insect God]]'' by Edward Gorey (note that "Gowry" and "Gorey" are spelled the same in Japanese), the Rot's Kindred resembling giant arthropods and its physical form under the Lake of Rot resembling a tailed insectoid (going by the Scorpion's Stinger) is probably also meant as a reference to it.
* UndergroundMonkey: Many minibosses throughout Caelid are familiar enemies reskinned and recolored to reflect their corruption by Scarlet Rot; usually they gain the ability to spread Rot as an attack while gaining a weakness to fire. These creatures usually have the appellation "Putrid" by their name. Notably, even the servants of fellow outer gods aren't immune; Putrid Erdtree Avatars, which serve the Greater Will, exist, and there are a trio of Putrid Crystalians, alien life-forms affiliated with the Dark Moon.
* WeakToFire: The Rot's biggest weakness is that its very, ''very'' weak to fire. Radahn's Lordsworn have put this to good use, wielding torches and flaming weapons, using walls of smoldering stone to stave off the Rot's spread, and even burning an entire ''church'' at the entrance to Limgrave to prevent the Rot from spreading there. They also make use of the Fire Monks' Flame Chariots.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Frenzied Flame]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Flames of Chaos, Yelough
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lord_of_chaos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lord of Chaos, [[TheAntichrist avatar of cleansing]].]]
The migrants of the Great Caravan were never loved by the inhabitants of the Lands Between. Suspicious and hateful of the outsiders, the denizens of the land eventually turned on them ''en masse'', with accusations of wickedness and heresy. Falling upon the Great Caravan, the denizens of the Lands Between destroyed their home and massacred them, culminating in a terrible act of cruelty: thousands of nomads were executed by being BuriedAlive. The few survivors were scattered to the winds. Broken, consumed by despair and hatred, the survivors [[ThenLetMeBeEvil decided to embrace the moniker of heresy they could not escape]]. They called out for something, ''anything,'' to unleash destruction upon the Lands Between in retribution, consequences be damned...\\
\\
...[[GoneHorriblyRight and the Frenzied Flame answered them.]]\\
\\
An outer god associated with madness, knowledge, chaos, eyes, retribution, and the color yellow, the Frenzied Flame forgoes the usual machinations of other outer gods. It does not seek to form cults or establish dominion, though a few worshippers have nevertheless embraced it, pockets of violent madness standing out in an already violent world. The Frenzied Flame's foremost agent to spread its knowledge is Shabriri, the most reviled man in history, who blasphemed against the Golden Order and preached chaos and retribution. Though Shabriri was killed, the Frenzied Flame didn't let him die; he remains, able to BodySurf between corpses by dint of the Flame's power. More dangerous than Shabriri is the Three Fingers -- eerie counterparts to the Greater Will's Two Fingers -- manifested to serve a similar role to the Two Fingers; seek someone with the potential to inherit the will and power of the Flame to become the Lord of Chaos, as a true expression of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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Modern adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, yet they boast an impossible well of knowledge and are occasionally possessed of a disturbingly serene lucidity. One, Hyetta of Liurnia, is being groomed by the followers of the Flame to become a Finger Maiden to the Three Fingers. Hyetta claims that the Frenzied Flame despises the Greater Will for fragmenting an ancient source of life, the "One Great," to create the lesser forms of life -- from humans to animals to plants -- that populate the Lands Between. The Frenzied Flame would see the One Great restored, a wish that necessitates the eradication of all forms of life and the scorching of the entire world by the fires of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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So feared and reviled is the Frenzied Flame and its goal of universal destruction that all who have been uncorrupted by its influence oppose it. Its mortal adherents remained isolated, despised, and shunned, and the Three Fingers were imprisoned in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the Royal Capital, sealed by followers of the Greater Will. Still, the Three Fingers remain there even now, waiting for the one who would free them and become Lord of Chaos.\\
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Should the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] embrace the Three Fingers and become the Lord of Chaos, the Golden Order is supplanted entirely and the Frenzied Flame achieves its goal of bringing its purifying flames to all life that exists, culminating in the '''Lord of Frenzied Flame''' ending.
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* AmbiguousSituation: Its name may or may not be Yelough, which would make it the only Outer God with a name, but it's never given an explicit confirmation. Yelough only appears three times in the whole game, once as the "Eyes of Yelough" plant that appears in locations affected by the Flame of Frenzy, another time in the Yelough Anix Ruins, which has Frenzied Flame worshippers in it, and the nearby Yelough Anix Tunnels, which has nothing to do with the Frenzied Flame in either its design, enemies or boss (who is instead an Astel).
* TheAntiGod: The Frenzied Flame is the closest equivalent to an Anti-Greater Will. Whereas the Greater Will encompasses life, immortality, vegetation and order, the Frenzied Flame represents the end of life, destruction, flame, and chaos, and both employ their own 'Fingers' to choose a vessel to use as a pawn in their schemes. Out of all the Outer Gods at least presently active, the Frenzied Flame and the Greater Will have the most directly antagonistic relation.
* AssimilationPlot: Its most likely end goal. Shabriri and the Frenzied Spirit talk about "incinerat[ing] all that divides and distinguishes" and if Hyetta is given the words of the Three Fingers, she explains that as the Frenzied Flame sees it, all life was once the "One Great" who the Greater Will divided up to make life and souls as humans know them. The Frenzied Flame thinks that this was a mistake that led only to suffering, so it seeks to melt everything back into its original form as the One Great.
* TheBadGuyWins: If the Tarnished inherits the Frenzied Flame, they'll become the Lord of Chaos who will burn the Elden Ring, the Erdtree and likely all life, which -- whatever [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the motives]] might be -- is what the Three Fingers and its master want achieved.
* BodyMotifs: Eyes. The Frenzied Flame inflicts EyeScream on its adherents, but even as they lose their sight, they are filled with knowledge beyond mortal ken -- suggesting that they must lose their sight of the tangible world to gain true knowledge.
* BodyHorror: The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with eyes -- or rather, the lack of eyes. Humans and animals touched by it have their eyes burned out, jets of yellow fire emerging from the empty sockets in their place, and the swollen, pus-filled eyeballs are fed to adherents as "grapes".
* BrownNote: An unusual example; the Fingerprint Stone Shield is heavily implied to be branded by the Three Fingers with its fingerprints, serving as "messages". Getting bashed by this shield causes Madness build up, suggesting the mere act of ''touching'' the fingerprints causes Frenzy to spread onto you.
* ChaosIsEvil: "Evil" might be stretching it for a formless, alien deity, but its goals would certainly result in the death of all living things and its followers are threatening and sinister. The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with chaos, to the point of occasionally being ''known'' as the Flame of Chaos, and Shabriri desires for chaos to take the world. Interestingly, the Frenzied Flame's desire to return life to its primordial state of the One Great gives it some affiliation with the original definition of chaos as well as the modern version.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Even more so than any of the other Outer Gods, openly speading madness, destruction, and corruption.
* TheCorruption: The Frenzied Flame, while less extensively spread than the Scarlet Rot, causes the animals and people that it touches to go insane and infused with the flame itself, and causes unnatural fruits and vegetation like the Eyes of Yelough to grow.
* CrazySane: Adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, sometimes violently so, but also gain tremendous insight and wisdom of ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow.
* DespairEventHorizon: The Frenzied Flame seems drawn to people who cross it and begin to curse the world. The Great Caravan is the most notable example, but Castellan Edgar's questline ends with him infected by it as well, after his desire to avenge his beloved daughter degrades into murdering random travelers. Frenzied Flame incantations are also used by certain Leyndell soldiers on Mt. Gelmir, where the most horrific battle of the Shattering was (and sort of still is being) fought.
* EarnYourBadEnding: The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending is treated as a proper BadEnding, with Melina abandoning the Tarnished and all life [[WorldWreckingWave being scorched by the Frenzied Flame.]] It's also eminently avoidable: the game piles hint upon hint that the Frenzied Flame is bad news, only growing more obvious the closer the player gets to the Three Fingers, culminating in an [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically passionate]] plea from Melina to not pursue this action. Even if the player embraces the Three Fingers, they can purge the Frenzied Flame using Miquella's Needle, meaning that if the ending is achieved, it is certifiably the player's fault.
* {{Expy}}: Of Hastur as the King in Yellow, specifically his depiction in later ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' RPG sourcebooks: a yellow-colored force of entropy from the cosmos who spreads madness to his cult of followers, is empowered by negative human emotion, and takes various avatars to increase its power in the land. The [[https://i.imgur.com/LK67V7q.png Frenzy sigil even looks like the Yellow Sign.]] Note that Hidetaka Miyazaki is a self-admitted fan of ''Call of Cthulhu'', has cited nondescript tabletop [=RPGs=] as one of his main inspirations for ''Elden Ring'', and that one of the locations hosting Frenzy in-game is called the Yelough Anix Ruins.[[note]]Yelough is obviously an alternate spelling of yellow, while "anax" means king in Greek. Yellow King Ruins.[[/note]]
* EvilIsBurningHot: A deity of omnicidal mania that primarily manifests as mind-destroying yellow fire.
* EyeBeams: Most Frenzied Flame incantations involve blasting gouts of flame from your eyes.
* EyeScream: The first symptom of the Frenzied Flame taking hold (aside from murderous insanity), is the eyes growing diseased, swollen, and yellow. Either the eyes fall out intact (or get clawed out by their owners) and become Shabriri Grapes, or just straight up ''burst'' and become Yellow Embers, with the afflicted getting FireballEyeballs in their place. Hyetta eats Shabriri Grapes to feel the 'distant light' (i.e. the Three Fingers), and once she does find it and receives the Three Fingers' wisdom, she says that her eyes are ''melting''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Uniquely the only Outer God that doesn't appear to want one of [[TheChosenOne the Empyreans]] as its vassal, being seemingly content with any host strong enough to not completely lose their mind upon being touched by the flame.
* GoneHorriblyRight: The Frenzied Flame was awakened by the survivors of the Great Caravan. While some of the wandering merchants descended from the Caravan do seem to be adherents and will even use Frenzy abilities if aggroed, others seem to fear the Frenzied Flame just as much as anyone else, with one nomad in Liurnia outright warning the player from approaching the Frenzied Flaming Village to the northeast. It seems these nomads realized something that would kill all life would include ''them'' in the "all life" category.
* LightIsNotGood: The Frenzied Flame, as expected of a god of fire, is heavily associated with light. It's yellow flames can be seen lighting the darkness, and Hyetta refers to a "light behind her eyes" as she is slowly corrupted into serving as its Finger Maiden. Its association with knowledge also fits the trope per the familiar concept of the "light of knowledge". Yet the Frenzied Flame is an OmnicidalManiac which wishes to put all living things to the torch.
* MysticalPlague: The Frenzied Flame is contagious, though to a lesser extent than the Scarlet Rot. The whole point of its various incantations is to spread it to others. In gameplay this just kills them, but whole villages overtaken by the Frenzied Flame can be encountered while traveling, guarded by soldiers with a yellow flame painted on their shields to warn people away from them.
* NothingIsScarier: Like the Scarlet Rot, despite the spread of Frenzy and its madness in certain regions of the Lands Between and how universally reviled its influence is, remarkably little is known about its origin. While it supposedly first appeared to the Great Caravan, there are certain hints such as the existence of Cathedral of the Forsaken suggesting the Frenzy "sprouted" forth from the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers, who served an ancient god supposedly buried in the sacred tomb of frenzy acolytes. Like with Scarlet Rot, it is never made clear what this god is supposed to be -- possibilities include a previous Lord of Chaos or a vassal higher ranked than the Three Fingers, who is never referred to as a god even by frenzy adherents -- or if it is even ''dead''.
* NotQuiteDead: The Cathedral of the Forsaken is heavily implied to be a tomb housing an ancient god who originated the seeds from which Frenzied Flame sprouted forth. But given the Frenzy influnce is very much present and active in the Lands Between ever since the Great Caravan awakened it, this raises serious doubts if the deity is truly dead.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Frenzied Flame plays with this trope. Its flames only exist to [[TheCorruption corrupt all life and the land with Frenzy]], with Shabriri claiming its purpose is [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos to the world]]. However, while its objective certainly involves killing all life, Hyetta claims it actually desires [[AssimilationPlot to melt them all back to their primordial form]], a being who is called "One Great". Thus, while the Frenzied Flame's influence is omnicidal, it isn't necessarily because it wants life itself gone -- simply restored to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality what it considers proper]]. Of course, for all things currently living, the difference is mainly academic.
* PhysicalGod: Apart from the many forms of TheCorruption which Frenzied Flame can cause, the Outer God who originated Frenzy appears to have had a physical manifestation at some point in ancient history, as the Fingerprint Stone Shield found in the Cathedral of the Forsaken explicitly mentions it was part of the tomb of an ancient god. As NothingIsScarier above has explained, the nature of this god is more or less RiddleForTheAges.
* PowerBornOfMadness: As noted, the Frenzied Flame is strongly associated with frenzy, madness, and [[CrazySane insight through insanity]]. The Great Caravan merchants were blessed with the maddening flame when their minds fractured from crossing the DespairEventHorizon, Maidens of the Three Fingers are trained to develop clarity through madness, and incantations of Frenzied Flames involve producing fire through the eyes -- or to be more precise, ''the mind'' -- so much so that a fully realized Lord of Chaos has their heads burn away into a ''sentient ball of flame'', implying their mind is ''literally'' burning with Frenzy.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: While the Flame itself (allegedly) just wants to burn the world back to its primordial state, the people who wield it have usually crossed the DespairEventHorizon and just want to burn the world. This would have been most pronounced in Kalé's cut questline, in which his discovery of the massacre of the Great Caravan led him to beg the player to use the Frenzied Flame they called up to destroy everything, after trying and failing to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil do so himself]] (he reached the Three Fingers but they didn't accept him as a Lord). Hyetta also claims that all of the people who gave her "grapes" felt such despair as to wish they were never born.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: According to Hyetta, the Frenzied Flame believes the Greater Will was mistaken in creating individuality, life and souls in the Lands Between by dividing the One Great, and that it was this action which brought about all suffering, afflictions and curses. Their primary goal is to struggle against the Greater Will and its forces and undo this mistake by [[AssimilationPlot melting everything in the world back as one]].
* RecurringElement: Like the Dark Soul and its followers, most notably Kaathe, in the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, the Frenzied Flame is the antithetical power of the TopGod of the setting (Gwyn and the First Flame in Dark Souls, Marika and the Greater Will in this game) that promises a great change to the world order and to elevate the PlayerCharacter into the lord of the new age - ''un''like the Dark Soul, which was ambiguous in its danger at best, the game doesn't hide that the Frenzied Flame is a purely negative entity and its path is a case of EarnYourBadEnding.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Despite item descriptions saying that it only affects humans, there are also frenzied ''rats'' encountered in and around the Ailing Village and Frenzied Flame Village. Presumably this is because they ate the corpses of frenzied humans (i.e. the same reason rats drop Humanity in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls1'').
* StrawNihilist: Not the Outer God itself, who at least seems to be following a 'higher' purpose in its mass genocide, but its worshippers and servants definetly count. None of them other than Hyetta seem to care about the Frenzied Flame's AssimilationPlot, and are more in it to cause chaos to ravage the world and kill everyone due to a mix of despair-caused madness and nihilism.
* ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: This is the Flame's specialty. The more thoroughly its followers are touched by its madness, the more impossible insight they gain -- culminating in Shabriri bellowing that chaos should take the world and Hyetta asserting that all life is a mistake that needs to be corrected.
* UndergroundMonkey: Several types of enemies have variants that are afflicted with the Frenzied Flame and attack with Frenzied Flame incantations. These include the Cuckoo troops at the Frenzied Flame village and some of the Leyendell Soldiers at Mt. Gelmir.
* UnusualEuphemism: The swollen, chaos-filled eyeballs that its adherents feed to would-be Finger Maidens are euphemistically referred to as "grapes," seemingly because the Eye of Yelough, a corrupted plant touched by the Frenzied Flame, grows grape-like fruits that look similar to human eyes. Hyetta, at least, had no clue what she was actually eating until told by the PlayerCharacter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Formless Mother]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_mohgwyn_palace_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mohgwyn Palace, lair of her slaves]]
Mohg was one of the children of Marika and Godfrey. Born an Omen, he was hated and despised, sent in shackles to the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital alongside his brother, Morgott. While both brothers eventually escaped the Shunning-Grounds and rejoined society at large, Mohg was not so fast to reconcile as his brother. Going into hiding, Mohg saw the Shattering as an opportunity to seize power and gain dominion over the Lands Between. To do that, he would need the influence of an outer god to challenge the Greater Will -- and so he called upon the Formless Mother.\\
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One of the newer gods to arrive to influence the Lands Between, the Formless Mother, also known as the Mother of Truth, is heavily tied to Mohg and his ambitions. The Mother is, as she is described, a shapeless god without form; she is associated heavily with blood, pain, wounds, murder, violence, and an extremely twisted form of love and affection. Craving agony of her own, the Mother grants power to adherents who injure her; her burning blood emerges from injuries to manifest in the mortal realm, scalding those who earn her followers' ire. Every incantation of the followers of blood is in fact a ritualistic injury inflicted upon their insatiable god. Mohg, the Mother's earthly champion, has been granted burning blood of his own, a "gift" the Formless Mother has also bestowed on his twin brother Morgott -- whether he wants it or not.\\
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Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between.
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* AmbiguousGender: The Formless Mother is the only outer god referred to with gendered pronouns or titles, including in item and incantation descriptions. Still, it's up in the air whether a formless deity that exists outside of space can even ''have'' a gender in the human understanding of the term, and Mohg may simply be projecting onto her.
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** She's implied to have some relation to Omens and their 'accursed blood', but it's not known how much. She chose an Omen as her prime apostle, and Mohg is described to have had his accursed blood set on fire when he encountered her, and the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear describes her as an "outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood." Notably, Morgott's cursed sword also has an effect similiar to Bloodflame, which is an odd standout on his otherwise holy-themed arsenal. It's not known if she's just, in an Outer God's twisted way, sympathetic to the Omens, if she finds their cursed blood just a convenient way to exert her influence, or if she's somehow the ''origin'' of said cursed blood.
** Some members of the Fire Monks wield a type of magic called Thorn Sorcery that summons blood-red barbs and briars from their self-inflicted wounds, the similar motifs (as well as the art's focus on [[CombatSadomasochist self-inflicted suffering]]) strongly imply the "Blood Star" that taught these monks in their dreams is actually the Mother.
* ArcVillain: As she's responsible for bestowing Mohg her power and his dream of reshaping Miquella as his consort. This makes her a [[GreaterScopeVillain greater scope variant]] for Miquella and Malenia's story since as an Outer God she's never dealt with directly. [[OutOfFocus She doesn't have much relevance to Elden Ring's story otherwise.]]
* BadBoss: Potentially to Mohg. He seems to view himself as an ascendant BigBad with the favor of an obedient patron deity, but ''any'' denizen of the Lands Between is at risk of misinterpreting [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the whims of an outer god.]] It's worth noting that Mohg's belief that his patron would resurrect Miquella led to Miquella's death, thus depriving the Greater Will one of its Empyreans, and despite all the HumanSacrifice, Miquella ''still'' hasn't come back.
* BloodMagic: The source of the Blood Oath school of Incantations, which consists of casters ''literally carving into her body and ripping out her veins'' to do things like create sprays of blood that burst into flames or summon swarms of flies. She can also harness the blood of living beings as a medium to manifest her power, and seems to be fond of bloodshed just for bloodshed's sake, giving Mohg a cult which promotes killing in her name. Her followers maim themselves using her blood, and use these injuries to invade and kill other Tarnished in their name and in hers.
* BodyHorror: If you can consider the air around Mohg to be her "body", then he's inflicting this on her constantly. Every spell he uses is caused by quickly mutilating the Mother and using her blood as a weapon.
* CombatSadomasochist: An odd example, as her sadomasochism is used for ''others''' combat. Using any Blood spell is described as causing a wound to the Formless Mother, causing her blood to manifest for the caster to manipulate. The Formless Mother actively ''encourages'' her followers to use her like this.
* CompleteImmortality: Implied. The Formless Mother is technically the only Outer God the players can 'harm' through the use of Blood Oath spells and Mohg's spear, stabbing through a red portal and splashing her blood onto your enemies; of course, she ''craves'' wounds, and is a cosmic beings of such proportions that human-inflicted wounds would never be able to kill her, if such a thing is even possible.
* TheCorruption: A subtler example compared to other Outer Gods, but still present: animals corrupted by her influence grow bloody warts all over their body similiar in appearance but distinct from creatures corrupted by the Scarlet Rot, and causes them to inflict magically-induced bleeding. On humanoids, or at least Albinaurics, her blood corruption causes the skin to turn blood-red and grow small horns on their heads, and allows them to (painfully) channel blood magic with their own bodies. She seems to have an effect on the land as well, as areas influenced by the Bloody Fingers have huge clumps of solid, seemingly coagulated blood ammassed on the ground.
* EvilIsVisceral: A deity associated with cruelty, blood, and murder, the base of operations for her followers is a ''lake'' of bubbling blood led by a grotesque monster with a horn [[EyeScream growing into his eye!]]
* HumanSacrifice: Her followers commit murder to empower themselves and her as well, and Mohg at least believes that with enough sacrifical blood, Miquella will be reborn into a biddable puppet.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The Mother and her followers express love and affection (which, for her followers at least, appears to be genuine in an extremely twisted way) by viciously harming and abusing the targets of their desires. This extends to the Mother herself, who craves wounds and whose followers ecstaticly maim and injure her formless body as a sign of devotion.
* MythologyGag: The Formless Mother is very likely a reference to [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Formless Oedon]]. Other than the similar epithet, they're both eldritch gods heavily associated with blood, both are tied to a slumbering infant god, both are associated with a [[AnimeCatholicism Catholic aesthetic]] (Oedon having chapels dedicated to him, the Formless Mother's main spot of worship being a fortified cathedral), both are the figures of worship of a ReligionOfEvil focused on blood and whose leader aspires to ascend to godhood, and both are completely physically absent from their respective games.
* NonIndicativeName: Her alternate title, the "Mother of Truth". Her adherents are secretive and deceptive, and she herself is implied to be manipulating Mohg.
* OneBadMother: One of the most overtly malevolent deities in the setting is called the "Formless Mother."
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The primary color scheme of a god associated with blood and murder is, you guessed it, red and black.
* {{Sadist}}: Mohg's overtly sexual and very depraved intentions for Miquella color a lot of what we know of the Formless Mother as well. She seems to enjoy receiving wounds, not unlike a real-life masochist, but her followers use her burning blood to maim and kill on her behalf, and seem to take pleasure in doing so. As seen in {{Yandere}} below, adherents of the Formless Mother almost seem incapable of differentiating between cruelty and affection.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As an Omen, Mohg was looked at as a demon and shunned by society. The Formless Mother encouraged him to become the monster that everyone saw him as.
* {{Yandere}}: Both of the major emissaries of the Formless Mother, Mohg and Varre, have a twisted and disturbing obsession with "love," and seem to think that the primary way to show it is through inflicting pain. That the Mother's followers show fealty to her by maiming her, and that she welcomes and even ''craves'' these wounds, indicate that it's a mindset learned from their patron goddess.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Outer God of the Twinbird]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' Ghostflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/y2dhscj0l4w81.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twinbird]]
Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, as not only is there little information about it, but [[NoNameGiven it is never given a formal title]], like "Formless Mother" or "Frenzied Flame". The game seem to suggest that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] directly related to this Outer God, only a few are [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguously linked]] to it, but they do not mention it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rite Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
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After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by Outer God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
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* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** While Those Who Live in Death are never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the Outer God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are associated with the idea of death and are depicted with various forms of black flames. Furthermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them. However, this is never fully explained.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Similar to the Moons, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the Outer God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the Twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The [[MonsterProgenitor Twinbird]] that arrived in The Lands Between in ancient times was probably not a "bird" as we understand the concept. Going by associated iconography, it had two heads, black and red feathers and it was ''huge''. If the description of it descending down from the heavens is literal, then [[FantasyAliens it flew through space from another world to get here.]] Somehow it mothered the Deathbirds, these freaky living skeletons that can control the blackflame, despite being the only one of its kind. Most disturbing of all, it has the ability to influence the souls of those who die in The Lands Between and can even control them with its unique powers.
* AnimalMotifs: Heavily associated with birds, especially carrion birds like crows and vultures which are frequently misunderstood scavengers; this ties into the belief that death is a natural part of life. Notably, the Deathbirds look vaguely like grotesque vulture chicks.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Its is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) and the Eclipse Shotel can inflict the crushing Deathblight.
* GodOfTheDead: Described as an God of death, its adepts practice necromancy, used ghostflame and sorcery linked to death and his vassals used to guide the souls of the dead before the era of the erdtree.
* HumanSacrifice: The Sacrificial Axe mentions that sacrificial rituals were part of the cult of the Deathbirds, but does not explore what exactly was sacrificed. The Red and Blue-Feathered Branchsword adds that, at the very least, followers offered themselves in some death rituals, in order to obtain a "glorious end" and give "a death worth offering".
* {{Necromancer}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame, and possibly being responsible for the spirits ashes. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
* NothingButSkinAndBones: Deathbirds have a totally flayed skull and are so skinny that their ribs is visible, they are also treated in the game "undead" (aka. Those Who Live in Death). Extrangelly, the only depict of their progenitor, the Twinbird, show her like a more lifull bird. Add the fact of their crackerl skull, is posible that the currentform wasn't always like this and its more a result of their Outer God be ascend.
* NotAfraidToDie: Most of the information on the subject indicated that death was considered sacred by the followers of the Deathbirds. They didn't seem to be afraid of dying; quite the contrary, they were willing to embrace their own death in the hope of being resurrected into something better.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The deathbirds are said to guard the ashes of the dead and guide them, and have command over wandering spirits with the power of ghostflame.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Subtle, but the elements are present. The oldest known death worship in the Lands Between (''"In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame."'') came from the Deathbirds, and they were known for burning the remains of the dead with their ghostflame and raking their ashes -- a ''role'' meant to be. Ancient priests who became guardians of these birds also went through the "rite of Death" to mark their oaths, sworn to a distant resurrection -- an oath sworn ''duty''.
* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones. The flame is described as [[ColdFlames cold to the touch]].
[[/folder]]
!!Unconfirmed Outer Gods:
[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
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Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\
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The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\
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Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
----
* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to be the cause of these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* BanOnMagic: Possibly. The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Aberrant sorceries. As the sole patron of glintstone magic, this could be a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. This is helped by the fact that glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly]] wide [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] of [[StarfishAliens forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
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At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
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In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
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Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
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Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
[[/folder]]
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[[WMG:[[center: [-''VideoGame/EldenRing'' '''[[Characters/EldenRing Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingTheTarnished The Tarnished]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMarika Marika]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''Outer Gods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingGodfrey Godfrey]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMorgott Morgott]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMohg Mohg]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn Radahn]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRykard Rykard]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRanniTheWitch Ranni the Witch]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]
!The Outer Gods
!!WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS
Unseen and phenomenally powerful entities from outside the world, said to be similar in nature and might to the Greater Will. Few mortals are aware of their existence; those who do call them "outer gods" of various different motifs. Greater in strength and power, even beyond Marika and her ilk, these entities have exerted their influence ever since the ancient history of Lands Between, and some are still trying to expand their reach even further. Unseen and acting through proxies and catspaws, they nevertheless wield tremendous influence over the setting of ''Elden Ring'' and its plot and backstory. Many of them act as rivals to the Greater Will, and some have direct influence in some of the game's MultipleEndings.
The exact number and identity of the outer gods is impossible to determine, due to occasionally conflicting information in the lore, plus the Golden Order having actively sought to erase or distort the knowledge of its rivals. Nevertheless, the following deities can be reasonably identified:
* The Greater Will itself, the higher power that bestowed the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Golden Order the tree imposes, who guided Marika before the Shattering.
* The Dark Moon, an entity associated with glintstone sorceries and the night sky, and the only outer god whom the Greater Will has an explicit alliance with.
* The Scarlet Rot, described as "Rot itself", a manifestation of disease, decay, and rebirth.
* The Frenzied Flame, an entity associated with madness and chaos that is hated and feared across the Lands Between.
* The Formless Mother, also known as the "Mother of Truth", a being of formless burning blood that is worshipped by the Bloody Fingers.
* The Outer God of the Twinbird, an entity affiliated with ghostflame and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.
* The "fell god" of the giants, a once-great entity associated with fire whose influence over the Lands Between was mostly wiped out when Marika annihilated its servants, the giants.
Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Outer God of the Twinbird. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.
Due to the outer gods' presence, nature, and motives being central to the history of the setting and the plot of the game, '''all spoilers involving them are unmarked''', so tread carefully.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:In General]]
'''Tropes applying to most or all of the outer gods:'''
* AboveTheGods: While they are not invincible or all-powerful (one of them was [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome defeated by a mortal]]), the game makes it clear their strength is far above the demigods and supposed "one true god" Marika (who is herself empowered by a similar being). The Scarlet Rot can ascend an [[ChosenOne Empyrean]] to the rank of God in Truth while imprisoned and the Formless Mother can do this too. And the Frenzied Flame is even more powerful. [[spoiler:Its unleashed strength can [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] and split the Erdtree]]. This provides a solid link to them, the Greater Will and the [[spoiler:Dark Moon]] the only other beings confirmed to have such power.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Whether or not the One Great described by Hyetta, speaking on behalf of the Frenzied Flame, even ''exists'', and if it does, whether or not it is an outer god. Hyetta describes it as the original form of life in Lands Between, fractured and divided into various lifeforms due to a mistake from the Greater Will. However, there is no information whatsoever about One Great's nature of being, as it is only hinted as an outer god because of circumstantial clues and the fact its state of being is a concern of the Frenzied Flame, which is definitively an outer god.
** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: All of them to a lesser or greater degree:
** The Greater Will seems to be ''mostly'' good, but how much of that is colored by the perception of its human followers is ambiguous. It abandoned the Lands Between for reasons unknown once Marika defied it, and it also ambiguously tolerates the Scarlet Rot's intercession in its affairs, despite the fact that the Will's own followers view being infected with Rot as a FateWorseThanDeath.
** The Dark Moon's affiliation with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the fallingstar beasts and Astel paints it as horrifying by the Earth-like standards of the Lands Between, but it seems to view those creatures as little more than animals. Its glintstone grows and consumes surrounding land and life, and both the starborne beasts and the glintstones were apparently sent to the Lands Between ''by accident'', or at least not deliberately. The closest it seems to get to intentionally interacting with mortals is providing means to encourage self discovery and that only if said mortals contact it first.
** The Scarlet Rot and its followers seem to consider the horrible fates inflicted on those with Scarlet Rot -- their flesh rotting, their mind decaying, their soul withering -- as some sort of baptism so they can be reborn into their kindred. In particular, Sage Gowry believes Millicent being consumed by her rot due to despair and becoming a scarlet rot flower to be utterly "magnificent" with no malice whatsoever, finding it a joyous occasion. Despite Malenia and Millicent being the two proxies it works through during the events of the game, both of them hate the Rot and seek to throw off its influence -- something that the outer god doesn't seem to mind, or even be aware of. Notably, the fact that the Rot-blessed Malenia was named Empyrean by the Two Fingers indicates the Greater Will, or at least its envoys, do not view the Scarlet Rot's motives and methods negatively.
** The Frenzied Flame views all life as an aberration created by the Greater Will, and seeks to return life to its original, singular state -- an act which would necessitate the destruction of ''every living thing'', from humans to plants and animals and even fungi and microorganisms. Its adherents view this as a good thing, and they also willingly allow the Flame to blind them as it fills them with [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow esoteric knowledge]], offering their pus-filled eyes as "grapes" to Hyetta in order to inflict her with the Flame's madness, a fact which initially disturbs her but which she soon grows to relish.
** The Formless Mother relishes in pain and agony, not only in the inflicting of it in others but in ''herself''; her incantations involve maiming her [[note]]''somehow,'' as she is without form as her epithet implies[[/note]] and allowing her blood to manifest in the mortal realm. She "blesses" her champion Mohg with burning blood, a fate that seems agonizing yet which both the Mother and Mohg himself view positively, and bestowed the same upon Mohg's twin Morgott, a fate Morgott never asked for. This is especially bizarre as Morgott is an impossibly devout follower of the Golden Order, who is otherwise unaffiliated with her in any way. Notably for the Formless Mother, while her followers will typically inflict blood loss when they attack their foes, she does not grant immunity to blood loss the same way those inflicted with Scarlet Rot are immune to it: Wounds are sacred to her.
** The one who sent the Twinbird has the most obscure motivations of all. The Deathbirds appear to hold "death" as sacred, seeing as they devote their lifetime to burn the remains of the dead and rake their ashes, but the birds were also known to make pacts with priests who swore to become their guardians in exchange for a "distant resurrection", which mean they are not particularly against resurrections.
** The fell god of the giants is the only one to which this doesn't apply, simply because almost ''nothing'' is known about it. What little is understood is that it both inhabited the giants and ''enslaved'' them, and both parties viewed this as a benevolent act.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The outer gods are shown to be able to [[WindsOfDestinyChange alter the destiny]] of individuals of their choosing, in much the same manner the Greater Will uses its emissaries the Two Fingers to choose individuals to be its Empyreans to bear the Elden Ring.
** After studying the stars, various sorcerers encountered "Moons" which guide them using the very stars. The Carian royal family in particular was granted knowledge about various truths of the universe and the Sorceries they wield, eventually culminating with Ranni, who is able to channel the Dark Moon with her Sorcery. Radahn's action of blocking falling stars and the light of the distant stars had halted this for a while, but his defeat allows the Dark Moon to once again guide Ranni.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared to [[TheChosenMany the people of Great Caravan due to their despair and curse for the world]], and sent its emissary the Three Fingers to choose individuals with the potential of becoming its divine manifestation -- the Lord of Chaos. Shabriri is also granted the ability to BodySurf corpses so he can continue preaching about its influence.
** The Scarlet Rot foregoes using any emissary, as it blessed Malenia ''directly in the womb'' with Rot. It's unclear what factors allowed it to do so, given most instances of outer gods directly blessing individuals generally happen because said individuals encountered, contacted, or attracted their attention in some way, and Malenia certainly was unable to as a fetus. There are a number of factors which might explain this[[note]]as Malenia was born from Marika and Radagon -- who are the same person -- which Goldmask implicitly calls an imperfection in the Golden Order, it is possible the twins born of them are not under Erdtree's Grace and thus ripe for outer gods to directly influence; it is also possible Greater Will does not view Scarlet Rot in an antagonistic manner like it does outer gods of fire, and thus has no issue with the Rot blessing Malenia -- as despite Malenia's Rot being a great danger to everything around her since ''birth'', the Two Fingers still chose her to be a candidate for Empyrean[[/note]], but none of them can be confirmed.
** The Formless Mother came to Mohg as a child and taught him how to draw upon her power through Blood Incantations. She later tasked him with kidnapping one of the Empyreans so she could corrupt them with her blood into a vassal, whom Mohg could wed to become "the Lord of Blood".
** Dragonlord Placidusax was Elden Lord in an age before Godfrey and Marika, suggesting that he and his spouse were chosen as the Greater Will's foremost emissaries. Notably, despite his god[[note]]Not "outer god", so presumably a deity similar to Marika.[[/note]] having fled the Lands Between in the aftermath of most of the dragons abandoning it for loyalty to Marika's Golden Order, Placidusax is said to be stalwartly awaiting its return.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (death, disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: At least a few of them appear to be empowered by faith and worship in some way. One of them (the Frenzied Flame) awakened in the Lands Between by a curse of despair chanted by the people of the Great Caravan upon losing their cherished home. The influence of the fell god seems tied to their followers, with the fell god's influence waning considerably when the giants were wiped out.
* TheCorruption: At least three of the outer gods (the Dark Moon, the Scarlet Rot, and the Frenzied Flame) have their essences manifest as forces which can corrupt Lands Between and its inhabitants to varying degrees. See their individual folders for more.
* ColorMotif: Just like the Greater Will is heavily associated with gold and the Dark Moon with blue, some of the other Outer Gods are associated with red:
** Scarlet Rot is called such due to its vivid scarlet color -- most notably Caelid and the Lake of Rot being heavily tinted in almost all aspects. It also generally goes together with muted, organic colors that show up on the plants/mushrooms that accompany its influence.
** Yellow is heavily associated with the Flame of Frenzy. Many of its items are yellow and it's directly called the "yellow flame of frenzy".
** The Twinbird's Outer God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds have a more solid black fire with palish blue.
** The Formless Mother and the weapons/spells that derive from her and her cult are represented by a deep, bloody shade of red with some black mixed in.
** The fell god is associated with the rich orange-red of forge flames.
** While primarily associated with gold, the Greater Will has a subtle connection to red too. Specifically in the form of the Primordial Crucible (the form the Erdtree took before the Golden Order) which is linked with red-tinged gold. The red lightning of Ancient Dragons (one of whom is the Elden Ring's previous wielder) may be linked to the Greater Will too as it is noted to be tinged with gold.
* CosmicChessGame: They seem to be in a struggle with each other to spread their influence across the Lands Between, and mostly do so by using native inhabitants of the realm as proxies:
** The Greater Will has exerted the most direct influence over the Lands Between, to the point that its Golden Order serves as the basis for the laws of reality itself. Raising Marika to godhood and gifting her the Elden Ring to cement her power, it directed her to war against the giants, servants of an outer god. It tolerated reverence for the Moons done by the Liurnians (likely because they had initiated conversation with the Dark Moon, rather than the other way around) and, for whatever reason, also either allowed the Scarlet Rot to bless Malenia in the womb with its Rot or took no steps to curtail its influence, even naming her an Empyrean. The Greater Will's hold on the Lands Between has started to slip as Marika, its foremost servant, rebelled against it and shattered the Elden Ring. Having abandoned the Lands Between due to Marika's betrayal, it is poised to be usurped by outer gods, which indeed is possible for the Dark Moon, the Frenzied Flame, and Death in some of the game's MultipleEndings. In the base ending, the Golden Order is established as-is with the PlayerCharacter as Elden Lord; the Age of Order ending establishes a modified version of the Golden Order in which gods like Marika are no longer allowed to act as they please. The Blessing of Despair ending establishes a twisted return of the Golden Order stained by the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, in which all present and future generations will be barred from returning to the Erdtree.
** The Dark Moon is rather unique compared to the Greater Will or the others with known influence in Lands Between, in that it doesn't seem to be actively spreading its influence. The phenomenon of its falling stars hitting Lands Between seems to occur naturally, as the Dark Moon didn't make its existence known to the ancient humans who discovered its [[AlienKudzu Glintstones]] until after the ancient astrologers developed Sorcery using the stones and then encountered it in their studies of stars. After that, its influences are through [[{{Lunacy}} guiding moonlight]] and very personal in nature to each individual seeking its guidance, as the likes of Ranni, Azur, Lusat and various others were all inspired with different Sorceries from it. Even the star spawn creatures rising from its meteors are not implied to be directed or guided by it, instead [[FisherKingdom evolving and gaining traits based on where they landed in Lands Between]], with equal chances of becoming either sapient and civilized beings like Alabaster and Onyx Lords or animalistic and calamitous forces like fallingstar beasts and Astel. The Dark Moon can assume influence over the Lands Between in place of the Greater Will if the player pursues the Age of the Stars ending, but even that is largely due to the machinations of Ranni and the PlayerCharacter and Ranni's descriptions imply that the Dark Moon's influence on the world will not extend further than keeping other Outer Gods at bay.
** The Scarlet Rot once had an attempt to spread its influence at some point in history, but was halted under unknown circumstances and now [[SealedEvilInACan a part of its essence is sealed beneath]] [[GardenOfEvil the Lake of Rot]], turning it into [[LeakingCanOfEvil the hellish pit it is now]]. Even so, it doesn't stop [[PoisonousPerson creatures of rot]] from being born there, nor does it stop madmen from forming the [[BreedingCult Order of Rot]] to worship the Scarlet Rot, mutate themselves and others into rot creatures, and facilitate its spread. It also "blessed" [[TheChosenOne Malenia]] in the womb with the Rot, and the main goal of the Order of Rot (and, implicitly, the god they worship) is to get either Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and "bloom," becoming true avatars to the Scarlet Rot. Interestingly, the fact that the Greater Will took no steps to prevent the Scarlet Rot from infecting Malenia and that its envoys declared her an Empyrean indicates that it may not view Scarlet Rot as an enemy -- for whatever reason.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared prior to the Shattering to Shabriri and the Great Caravan who fell to [[DespairEventHorizon despair when they were buried alive underground for their heretical beliefs]]. Unlike the others known to influence Lands Between, the Frenzied Flame isn't keen on forming a cult, but instead dedicates its chosen ones to spread the corrupting flame of [[PowerBornOfMadness madness]] to other life and to [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos across the land against any form of order, chiefly being the Golden Order which Marika imposed]]. Its end goal is fairly vague, with those who possess insight to its nature claiming it desires to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all life on this world]] so these lifeforms [[AssimilationPlot can return to their original primordial form called the "One Great"]], but whatever it wants, it involves [[WorldWreckingWave burning the entire world with Frenzied Flame]]. Although the servants of other outer gods have succeeded in sealing away its envoy, the Three Fingers, it can still get its wish if the PlayerCharacter meets with the Fingers and takes in the Frenzied Flame, becoming the Lord of Chaos.
** During the Shattering wars, Mohg contacted an entity he calls "Formless Mother" and "Mother of Truth" in the hopes of [[DealWithTheDevil resurrecting Miquella as his divine consort and foundation of his dynasty]]. She complied, [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge granting him the knowledge]] to invent BloodMagic incantations derived from her blood and Mohg formed [[ReligionOfEvil a cult to spread bloodshed]] to harvest enough blood as sacrifices to resurrect Miquella. Her blessing of Mohg's reluctant twin Morgott, and the apparent failure of Miquella to be resurrected, may indicate that the Formless Mother has [[UnwittingPawn greater plans than Mohg realizes]].
** The Deathbirds are mothered by a "twinbird" envoy of an outer god associated with death. They were once prominent prior to the Age of the Erdtree, comparable to {{psychopomp}}s in role and described as keepers of "ghostflames" which burn the remains of the dead into ashes. They are considered malevolent deities by the Golden Order, which contributed to their fading into obscurity. Its motivations are by and large a mystery, because the Deathbirds have largely gone into hiding.
** The Fire Giants were heavily implied to [[{{Precursors}} have built a civilization]] who worshipped and [[DivineAssistance borrowed the power]] of a "fell god" which dwells in their flames and their very bodies, and [[DivineConflict this is heavily implied to be the reason why Marika and her Empire were ordered by the Greater Will to eradicate them]]. Though it's never explicitly referred to as an outer god, the fact the flame within the Forge of Giants remains undying despite Marika's attempt to extinguish it -- even with the power of Elden Ring -- and its ability to burn the Erdtree implies it is one. Whatever plans the fell god had appear to have fallen with the giants' civilization, and now it is simply used as a stepping stone to overcome the obstacles set forth by the Greater Will and, potentially, allow other gods to take the stage.
* CosmicEntity: At least two of these beings are noted to influence the cosmos beyond the world of Lands Between, the Greater Will and the Moons. While it doesn't say so outright, the Future Press guide also heavily implies that the beings identified as "outer gods" are from the cosmos; it introduces them by saying that "the fledgling planet was not alone in the vast expanse of the cosmos, and before long a host of outer gods and fell creatures of the starry void took notice of its existence", with the story section about them titled "Visitors From Beyond." Wherever they're from, it's definitely not the Lands Between.
* DespairEventHorizon: A trait shared by the Frenzied Flame and Scarlet Rot is that they have a much easier time taking over their appointed vessels if the vessel experiences great despair, presumably because it causes their will to be broken. In fact, the Frenzied Flame only exists because this horizon was collectively crossed by an entire race.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The outer gods appear to lack a true form which can ''die'', but any physical influence, proxies, and manifestations they have can be beaten back, sealed or killed. Marika's Empire defeated the Fire Giants so thoroughly that their fell god's influence is effectively removed from the land. An ancient god of Rot was said to be defeated and sealed away by a blind swordsman with a sword bestowed by a "fairy", now locked somewhere in the Lake of Rot. The Fingerslayer Blade is also said to be able to harm the Greater Will and its vassals, and Ranni proves she can kill at least the Two Fingers with it. The Fire Giant offers its leg before its chest opens revealing a grotesque face similar to depictions of the fell god; since the fell god was said to reside ''in'' the giants, this suggests the Giant may be channeling or even taken over by the fell god, but it is still defeated just like any other boss. And in all endings, the player challenges and defeats the Elden Beast, an embodiment of the order of the Greater Will.
* DivineConflict: Most of the wars in the history of the Lands Between are a series of secret proxy wars fought by the outer gods for control over the land, and the Shattering is no exception.
* TheDreaded: With the exception of the Greater Will, which is widely viewed as benevolent, and to a lesser extent the Dark Moon, whose glintstones are viewed as dangerous yet important sources of sorcery, almost every outer god invokes fear in those who know of it:
** The Scarlet Rot inflicts a FateWorseThanDeath upon infectees, and Radahn's forces have more or less tapped out of the Shattering entirely in a desperate attempt to contain its spread.
** The Frenzied Flame's infliction of madness and [[OmnicidalManiac desire to end all life]] terrifies anyone who knows of it. Its first adherent, Shabriri, is described as "the most reviled man in history" and is a [[BodySurf Body Surfing]] SerialKiller. Melina [[NotSoStoic uncharacteristically]] ''[[NotSoStoic begs]]'' [[NotSoStoic you]] not to meet with its servants the Three Fingers the closer you draw to them. Even a nomad merchant, one of the very individuals who called it to the Lands Between to begin with, warns you away from the Frenzied Flaming Village.
** The Formless Mother's greatest servants are a cult of {{Serial Killer}}s led by a rapacious SatanicArchetype. Everyone who knows of them hates and fears them, and her by extension.
** The very moniker of "fell god" evokes dread and fear, and generations after the war against the giants has been long concluded, icons of the giants and their lord are used as universal symbols of terror.
** The lightning wielded by the Stoneguard ancient dragons, granted by their deity, was able to hurt the Erdtree. This horrified Marika's empire, to the point some Tree Sentinels become obsessed with becoming dragons to protect their Erdtree, and was a deciding factor in them going to war.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: Most of them act as the source of power for a corresponding school of Incantations used primarily by their followers as a means of strengthening their hold on the world. Yet they seem to care little about who wields their power and for what purposes: the Formless Mother, for instance, does nothing to stop you from using Blood Oath spells to slay Mohg despite his status as her greatest champion.
* EldritchAbomination: All of them. The Greater Will is never referred to as having a body and may, as it is called, be nothing ''but'' will; the Dark Moon lives in outer space and creates AlienKudzu and lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by ''existing''; the Scarlet Rot manifests as a living, sentient disease that corrupts everything it touches; the Frenzied Flame is an intangible force of fire that bestows both knowledge and madness upon its followers, and wishes to return the world to what is effectively primordial soup; the Formless Mother has no physical form, yet the incantation Bloodboon states that it works through carving your hand ''inside her body'' and splattering her blood -- which combusts into flames -- to your enemies; the fell god of the giants seemingly inhabited both the giants themselves as well as their forge, and may actually ''be'' fire in the form of a HiveMind.
* EmotionalPowers: Several of the outer gods are affiliated with emotions in some way:
** The Dark Moon has a heavy individualism theme, with many of those who communed with it such as Ranni, Azur, and Lusat all developing wildly different sorceries based on the creator's own mindset and outlook.
** The Scarlet Rot has some nebulous and unclear ties to its host's emotional state. Malenia is said to have needed to maintain her "pride", "will", and "sense of self" to stop it from breaking out, while Gowry states that Millicent would need to die in despair from [[EtTuBrute the Tarnished's betrayal]] for the Rot's power to bloom properly.
** The Frenzied Flame was implied to come into the world when the people of the Great Caravan despaired after [[BuriedAlive being sentenced to execution via mass burial]] for heresy. Its incantations can also literally kill people by driving them to madness.
* EvilIsBurningHot: As a god of life, fire is anathema to the Greater Will, and so fire is also associated with the most thoroughly (and indiscriminately) antagonistic Outer Gods. Whatever their quibbles with the Golden Order, few residents of the Lands Between are keen on entities that want to burn all life from their world.
* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twinbird's Outer God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
* EvilPowerVacuum: The destruction of the Elden Ring and the waning of the Greater Will's influence on the Lands Between seems to have left it wide open for intrusion by the Outer Gods. Otherwise it's a very bizarre coincidence that Malenia's Rot significantly worsening, Mohg getting into full contact with the Formless Mother and becoming Blood Lord, the Frenzied Flame infecting settlements in the heart of Altus, and the Dark Moon deciding to open the path to Nokron all just happened to coincide with the Shattering.
* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for Twinbird's Outer God, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and Twinbird's Outer God is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* TheGhost: While their influence is certainly felt, none of these entities manifest in the Lands Between. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since as eldritch entities beyond space and time, they might not have a true form and any manifestation they do have can be considered [[FightingAShadow temporary vessels]]. Some of them do downplay this however:
** The Greater Will sent the Elden Beast along with the Elden Ring and has Two Fingers as its heralds. While the Elden Beast's exact role is unknown, each Empyrean chosen to bear the Elden Ring becomes a god as the Greater Will's extension of being or divine proxy. They as well as their consort Elden Lords are explicitly called champions of the Erdtree and the Greater Will, and are referred to as "gods in truth".
** An ancient god described as "Rot itself" was defeated and sealed away near the Lake of Rot at some point in the past. It's ambiguous if this god was a vassal like the Elden Beast, a proxy like Marika, or the outer god itself manifesting, but in any case the Scarlet Rot has marked Malenia as its latest proxy; if she "blooms" three times, she would become a true "goddess" -- a true extension of the Scarlet Rot. The Rot seems to still be a sentient force exerting itself even in this state, as it's capable of spawning fully-formed sapient beings (Kindred of Rot) who can act against its "hosts" (one is shown keeping Millicent prisoner), and Millicent states that Malenia needed "a will that was once her own" and "a sense of self" to resist the Rot.
** The Frenzied Flame also has a herald in the Three Fingers, and anyone powerful enough to harness its flame's true potential to be the Lord of Chaos becomes its proxy.
** An outer god is said to have sent the Twinbird as its envoy, who subsequently spawned the Deathbirds, an entire group of creatures capable of controlling and guiding the souls of the dead.
** The flames of Fire Giants are said to contain the "presence" of their fell god. In particular, the flame in the Forge of the Giants is shown to be inextinguishable even to Marika, so it might be a proxy or even the god's actual physical manifestation in Lands Between. The Fire Giant also manifests a face similar to ancient depictions of the fell god during its BossBattle.
* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the Outer God of the Twinbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twinbird's Outer God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while the Outer God of the Twinbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While not the direct antagonists of the game, their CosmicChessGame and attempt to expand their influences are the cause of ''many'' troubling things the Tarnished has to deal with, from [[ZombieApocalypse Those Who Live in Death]] and alien beasts like Astel and the Crystalians to the threat of the Scarlet Rot and everything to do with the Frenzied Flame. The conflicts between followers of certain outer gods with Marika on behalf of Greater Will have literally shaped the pre-history and history of Lands Between. In many ways, the entire Shattering is nothing more than an elaborate proxy war fought between the outer gods for control of the Lands Between.
* JerkassGods: From a normal human being's perspective, none of the Outer Gods seem to have good plans for humanity: some seem neutral or indifferent, others are downright hostile to humanity or have malicious intent, or their way of spreading influence would completely transform and change humanity as we know it. Even the Greater Will, the one most widely viewed as conventionally "good", abandoned the Lands Between the moment the Shattering started, leaving humanity to the predations of rampaging demigods fighting for power.
* KryptoniteFactor: Unalloyed gold made by Miquella can stop their control on a person; when combined with a component that puts them "outside of time" (like Dragonlord Placidusax's chamber), Miquella's crafts can purge their influence entirely. Mirrorhelms from the eternal cities are designed to be this but only for the Greater Will.
* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the Outer God of the Twinbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
* OurGodsAreGreater: Unlike Marika and her family who fit the typical "humans, but grander" mold of many classic pantheons from world myth, the outer gods are both far more powerful and far more unknowable, being impossibly powerful, cosmic entities from beyond the world. They have an almost Lovecraftian vibe to them.
* PhysicalGod: On 2 different levels:
** The outer gods exist on such a vast scale of existence to the point their envoys and chosen ones themselves are considered divinities. The Two Fingers are worshipped [[OurAngelsAreDifferent almost like angels]] while Empyreans chosen by them to bear the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Elden Beast are all deemed as gods. Malenia, who was blessed with the Rot to become its champion, is effectively the larval form of a goddess and worshipped as such by the Order of Rot. All of these imply the only reason the envoys and champions of outer gods aren't named gods in the game is because the Golden Order faith deems them as alien, heretical beings.
** A number of outer gods have ''direct'' manifestations which ''can'' be physically interacted with and even killed. This is most obvious for the Formless Mother, whose school of magic involves its followers stabbing its veins and spilling its cursed blood through reality itself. The Scorpion's Stinger also states that the Outer God of Rot has a body, which is currently sealed under the Lake of Rot - the weapon itself is a relic of the god (i.e., a body part). The One-Eyed Shield is also said to be a depiction of "the malformed fell god" of the Fire Giants (i.e. it had a form), which along with Marika being said to have slain it on the same item description, indicates it had a body too.
* RealityWarper:
** All known outer gods can alter fate or causality to their will, and their physical manifestations can twist the laws of physics passively or actively: the Glintstones are the basis of Sorcery, and outer gods often exert their presence or essence as different schools of Incantations. Given the Dark Moon can share its guidance even to dwellers of Eternal Cities (which are trapped underground and thus unable to see the stars), and the Formless Mother's followers can reach its formless veins ''anywhere in the world'', it's clear even ''space and time'' don't restrict their influence either. However, they do seem to have limits:
** While they can freely influence any entity of their choosing (regardless of race, even the likes of giants and dragons), they need to ''notice'' their targets first in some way. At least a few outer gods extended their influence into the Lands Between because they were contacted by natives (Dark Moon, Formless Mother), while at least one came to Lands Between because certain elements attracted it (Frenzied Flame).
** They cannot freely affect those who are already under the influence of an outer god; they require a more direct means of intervention to subvert this hold[[note]]the Greater Will needs its herald the Two Fingers to affect Ranni and bind her to be an Empyrean, and the Frenzied Flame needs the Three Fingers to bless a Tarnished guided by Grace to turn them into a potential Lord of Chaos; the Scarlet Rot might ''look'' like an exception to this as it blessed Malenia in the womb, but the circumstances of her birth might have made her unprotected by Golden Order and Erdtree's Grace due to being born from a single god, which is noted to be a flaw in the Golden Order[[/note]].
** Finally, powers born of outer gods can counteract other outer gods. Mirrorhelms, connected to the Eternal Cities and the Carians, are born from the Dark Moon and expressly shield the wearer from the Greater Will. The unalloyed gold researched by Miquella can suppress the Scarlet Rot in one of its bearers, and can also be used to purge the Frenzied Flame from a recalcitrant Lord of Chaos. The flame of the fell god, empowered by Melina's sacrifice, can burn the Erdtree and allow the Tarnished to seek its interior. Radahn proves it is also possible to turn the powers of an Outer God against itself to ward off their influence, as he wielded the gravity powers learned from star spawn to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard slay them]].
* ReligionOfEvil: Many of them have formed these:
** The Scarlet Rot is worshipped by the Order of Rot, consisting of the monstrous Kindred of Rot. Their duty is to spread the Rot as much as they can, forcibly transforming others into more kindred in the process, and also to convince Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and ascend as an avatar of the Scarlet Rot. To that end they've abducted the reluctant Millicent and kept her prisoner. They also attempt to manipulate the Tarnished into betraying Millicent so that her despair causes her to "bloom".
** The Frenzied Flame has its own counterpart to the Two Fingers, the Three Fingers, complete with Finger Maidens who are granted both insight and madness by being fed the diseased eyeballs of its adherents. The entire faith seems to be led by Shabriri, a reviled historical figure who can BodySurf thanks to the Frenzied Flame and uses this ability to spread chaos through the world.
** The Bloody Fingers are the most overt, being a religious cult of assassins based in a fortified underground cathedral led by the local SatanicArchetype.
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the Outer God of The Twinbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
** The Fire Monks were set to guard the fell god of the giants, but have grown to worship it instead, and have taken advantage of the Shattering to set up militant forts and encampments throughout the Lands Between.
** The dragon cult seeks to "worship" dragons by hunting them and devouring their hearts in an act of Dragon Communion. The result of this is that practitioners begin to grotesquely mutate into Magma Wyrms, bloated monsters that are a hideous reflection of the dragons they worship. Note that the dragons themselves strongly object to the killing of their fellows; Ekzykes, even after being infected by the Scarlet Rot, never forgot his hatred and drive for revenge against Dragon Communers.
* UnreliableNarrator: Most of what we hear about them is filtered either through the mindset of followers of the Greater Will, who will naturally denigrate other gods to make their own look good, or from their own followers, in which the reverse is true. The only other information to go on is buried scraps of history and fables and fairy tales, some of which are contradictory, and necessitates taking all information about the outer gods with a very large grain of salt.
* TheUnreveal: The fell god receives less insight into its personality and motives, as its influence waned in ages past when their followers were either wiped out (Fire Giants, some trolls) or defected to the Greater Will (most trolls).
[[/folder]]
!!Confirmed Outer Gods:
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
\\
In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
\\
Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
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Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
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* AchillesHeel:
** Fire, at least for creatures infected by the Rot itself. Virtually every creature in Caelid and the Lake of Rot are weak to flame, and fire is what Radahn's army uses to contain and purge the creatures infested by the Rot.
** Clean, flowing water acts an antithesis to the Rot. The god itself was supposedly imprisoned beneath the Lake of Rot by the actions of a mysterious swordsman who was aided by a water fairy, and the same swordsman was implied to be the one who trained Malenia in how to use her sword. The Rot has thematic connections to ''kegare'', a Shinto belief in spiritual corruption and decay, which is also countered in Shinto by flowing water.
* AndIMustScream: Creatures infected by Scarlet Rot who don't perish or begin mutating usually start fusing with the rot-infected ground. As shown by Greyoll, they don't have to be dead for this to happen. The mother of dragons is fused to the earth of her own barrow, unable to move or defend herself in any way, yet is still alive as she slowly rots to death.
* AnimalMotifs: Arthropods, fitting for a god of decay. The God of Rot itself is a giant scarlet scorpion according to the Scorpion's Stinger item description, the Kindred of Rot resemble humanoid centipedes that can also shoot out web-like projectiles (Pest Threads), and the "bloomings" of the Rot's vessels (like potentially Malenia and Millicent) are accompanied by Aeonian Butterflies.
* TheAssimilator: Dying from the Scarlet Rot seems to cause the being to be completely consumed by it, turning into strange, fungal ''things'' that can [[BodyHorror still bleed]]. Some dragon corpses, as well as the still-alive Greyoll, can be seen with their massive bodies partially consumed by the Scarlet Rot covered ground.
* BodyHorror: Victims afflicted with the long-term version of Scarlet Rot (as opposed to the short-duration infection that kills you in seconds, but can be dispelled with boluses) wander about in misery with giant poison mushrooms growing out of their heads. The bulbous, fungal growths throughout Caelid were once living things, and they still bleed if you hit them with a weapon. Even Malenia, the Rot's champion, has her body slowly decaying from the inside out, with three of her four limbs being prosthetic, her eyes eaten away to the point of blindness, and much of her skin being diseased and rotten.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: The Scarlet Rot is heavily associated with flowers and butterflies to the point where butterflies ''made'' of Rot are a sign that Malenia has embraced the Rot's power. Adherents of the Order of Rot believe that being infected and transformed by the Scarlet Rot is a beautiful rebirth, with the alien glory of Malenia's Goddess of Rot phase in her boss fight making it clear that they're not entirely wrong (just mostly).
* TheCorruption: Many of the outer gods are guilty of this to some degree, but the Scarlet Rot is the most obvious about it. The Scarlet Rot corrupts the very land, causing everything including the sky above to turn into a sickly blood-red and causes most beings, including ancient and powerful things like dragons, to slowly lose their sanity and their body, which begins rotting to seemingly fuse with the land itself, [[AndIMustScream sometimes while the creature is still alive]]. Certain entities and people will instead mutate into creatures of rot, and the rot itself produces a number of unnatural lifeforms who only exist to cause more rot.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossing this allows the Scarlet Rot more leeway to possess its victims and transform them. Malenia's ability to resist it is tied in with her emotional state, and betraying Millicent at the eleventh hour of her quest causes her to fall into anguish and bloom into a rot flower. The Rot seems to be actively trying to push its hosts past this point (consciously or not) given that Millicent mentions it causes nightmares on top of the regular physical pain.
%%* Expy: Of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Nurgle, the Chaos God of nihilism and disease]]. Like Nurgle, this Outer God is a god of disease, and its Scarlet rot can infect not only the body but also the mind and soul, as General Radahn can attest to. It's also powerful enough to ''[[RealityWarper affect reality itself]]'', tinting the beings and lands alike with its colour. Worshipers of the Scarlet Rot preach it as the embodiment of the cycle of Death and Rebirth, and its infection gains grown when its victims [[DespairEventHorizon fall into despair]]. Malenia is the unwillingly chosen Champion of the Scarlet Rot and she has insect-like wings, much like how Primarch Mortarion, Nurgle's unwillingly chosen, gained insect wings following his transformation into a Daemon Prince.
* FantasticNuke: More like a fantastic ''bioweapon''. Malenia's unleashing of the Rot against Radahn left devestation on the level of a [=WMD=] in its wake, with the effects having spread from their battleground and layed waste to all of Caelid.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Denied by the Rot itself as well as its adherents and worshippers, but fully played straight in the minds of everyone and everything else [[note]]potentially excepting, weirdly enough, none other than the Greater Will[[/note]]. Being infected by Scarlet Rot means, at ''best'', a slow wasting death that reduces you to a haggard shell of your former self and eats your mind until you are at a borderline feral state, with not even demigods being immune. At worst, it means becoming a bulbous, grotesque mass of fungus-like flesh growing into the blighted countryside while ''still conscious'', or even being twisted and "reborn" into something else entirely--a creature devoted to Rot whose only purpose is to spread more Rot. Any potential cure for the Rot is also not known to the population at large; the only commonly known method to prevent it is to KillItWithFire before it can spread.
* FesteringFungus: The Scarlet Rot is heavily affiliated with fungus, with the fungal-like growths across the surface of Caelid and some of the infectees having their heads replaced by giant mushrooms. Interestingly, the way the fungi are arranged and grow alongside other flora resembles a coral reef (albiet a twisted, horrifying version of one).
* FlowerMotifs: The Scarlet Rot is strongly associated with flowers, [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterflies, and the cycle of decay and birth]]. While Scarlet Rot typically kills most things infected ([[DeaderThanDead physically and mentally]]), certain compatible individuals will instead mutate into a creature of rot, a process described as "blooming". Malenia is also accompanied with what appears to be rotten butterflies when she lets her Scarlet Rot "bloom" unleashed, and her ultimate rot incantation, the Scarlet Aeonia, creates an eerily beautiful flower-shaped explosion of infectious mist.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Zigzagged.
** Judging from the fact the only means to alleviate Scarlet Rot build up or cure the status in the game are 4 specific consumables and spells: Preserving Bolus [[note]]which requires rare materials, including one, the Sacramental Bud, that doesn't respawn and can only be farmed as a rare drop from land octopi and dogs in the Writheblood Ruins[[/note]], Speckled Hardtear [[note]]A crystal tear formed in places where Erdtree's droplets fall for long periods of time[[/note]], Flame Cleanse Me spell [[note]]An Incantation invented by the Fire Monks who had turned against Golden Order by worshipping the Flame of the Fell God they were supposed to guard, which burns the body with flames to cure ailments[[/note]] and Law of Regression spell [[note]]one of the most advanced Incantations in Golden Order Fundamentalism, which devotees like Goldmask isn't even able to cast due to being based on Intelligence[[/note]]. The recipes of said consumables are generally ''nowhere'' near any area where the Scarlet Rot runs rampant, while the spells are either heretical to be learned (Flame Cleanse Me) or too ''advanced'' for average practitioners (Law of Regression), meaning it is possible the Scarlet Rot isn't so much incurable as much as the means to cure it being effectively unavailable to most victims who catch it.
** However, the Scarlet Rot can definitively kill the consciousness of immortal beings like demigods and dragons, even infecting Erdtree avatars. As such, the fact gameplay Scarlet Rot can be expunged by simply resting at a site of grace, and that the player's Tarnished respawns as normal after dying to it both mean this trope still applies.
** While unstated, we have pretty clear signs that there are just two kinds of Scarlet Rot infection: acute (HP drops very quickly, will eventually go away if you don't die, the patient functions more or less normally while it's active until they drop dead, can be cured with a bolus or spell) and chronic (slowly rot away over the course of years, excruciating and debilitating pain and reduced level of consciousness and memory, seemingly-incurable). Malenia, Millicent, Radahn, and a bunch of random enemies have the latter, while the former is what can be inflicted in-game with Rot spells and "cured" with the aforementioned methods. The in-game Scarlet Rot status effect rapidly drains health and can kill anything (the damage is percentage-based) without the intervention of magic,[[note]]16.2% Max HP + 1350 damage per proc over 90 seconds for weapon greases and rot pots. 29.7% Max HP + 1170 damage over 90 seconds some of your spells. ''990%'' Max HP + 7,800 damage per proc over 300 seconds for Malenia's uniquely potent version.[[/note]] but it only retains that form for some one to several minutes, after which it will cease to have an effect (you could simply survive it by out-healing the damage, for example). Meanwhile multiple in-universe characters are dealing with long-term infections that don't kill anywhere near as rapidly but are much more difficult to remove. Backing this is the fact that you ''can'' inflict the acute version on characters who are already dying of the chronic version, and the result is a very clear visual difference on their models, usually followed by them dying in seconds (this is especially easy to do on Radahn, who [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration at this point]] has extremely low Rot resistance to the point 1 Rot Pot will proc the status).
* GodzillaThreshold: Radahn's soldiers have largely abandoned the Shattering, instead devoting everything they have to prevent the Rot from spreading beyond Caelid, even as it strains their resources and leaves them vulnerable to other armies.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While mostly unrelated to the main plotline other than being another source of dangerous monsters the Tarnished has to face, it is firmly the fundamental cause of Miquella and Malenia's subplot alongside the more direct Mohg, as it choosing Malenia as its new avatar caused the demigod woman great pain all her life, and drove Miquella's motivations to find a definitive way to ward off the influence of Outer Gods. After Miquella is kidnapped by Mohg and Malenia loses her dignity in the fight against Radahn, the Scarlet Rot is free to ravage Caelid and the Haligtree to apocalyptic results and turn them into breeding grounds for rot-born creatures.
* HostileTerraforming: As an alien god that seeks to reshape the entire world in its own bizarre and inhospitable image, the Rot is Elden Ring's poster-entity for this trope. Caelid, the site of the great Scarlet Rot outbreak of the Shattering, almost looks like another planet, complete with an [[AlienSky ominous red sky]].
* LeakingCanOfEvil: The Rot is sealed inside the Lake of Rot, but is still very much capable of interacting with the world at large, from corrupting Malenia in the womb to creating small pockets of Rot throughout the Lands Between.
* LossOfIdentity: One of the most feared aspects of the Scarlet Rot is that it doesn't just kill you, it erases your very sense of self. Radahn, once a proud and honorable general, has been reduced to a guttural, feral monster eating the corpses of friend and foe alike. Millicent ultimately decides she would rather [[DyingAsYourself die with her memories and ego intact]] than let the Rot take her and erase her sense of being.
* LostInTranslation: It's essentially the god of ''kegare'', a Shinto concept of spiritual uncleanliness that doesn't really have a Western equivalent, broadly translated as defilement, impurity or corruption, though not necessarily moral, and in fact sources of kegare can be fully natural like (as seen in the Scarlet Rot) disease and corpses. Several item descriptions (such as soap) give short explanations of kegare, but you'll still have to be somewhat familiar with Shinto to get the connection between things like still water and centipedes that are associated with the Rot, and why flowing water opposes it.
* MysticalPlague: The Scarlet Rot is both the most feared disease in the history of the Lands Between and also the manifestation of a partially-sealed outer god. It's even capable of infecting wholly inorganic beings, such as Crystalians, or ''metaphysical concepts without tangible form'' like the Great Runes. Going by gameplay, the only things immune to it are lifeless constructs that never had organic material to rot nor a mind to lose (golems, Edtree Burial Watchdogs, etc.- Crystalians don't count because they are sentient beings), illusions, projections, and other such things that aren't really there (Margit, Golden Shade Godfrey, Mohg the Omen), or beings that are completely divine and thus out of the Rot's purview (Radagon & Elden Beast).
* NonIndicativeName: Despite repeatedly being described with {{Flower Motif}}s, the Rot has far more in common with fungi then any sort of flora. This appears to be a reference to real world botanical history, as mushrooms were originally categorized as a type of flower before science advanced enough to recognise the differences.
* NothingIsScarier: We know the "god that was Rot itself" has [[PhysicalGod a physical form]], and we know it's buried beneath or nearby the Lake of Rot but that is it. We don't know what it looks like other than the fact it is possibly a scorpion, how long it's been there and if it has any chance of escaping. We're not even entirely sure what it is, considering the sealed away presence could be anything from a vassal of the outer god similar to the Elden Beast (considered a god in its own right), a previously chosen champion acting as a proxy much like Malenia (who gets called "Goddess of Rot" in her second phase), or even the outer god itself.
* PhysicalGod: The Scorpion's Stinger weapon confirms whatever divine presence is currently sealed beneath the Lake of Rot is a physical being, quite possibly a giant scarlet scorpion if the description is anything to go by [[note]]it's "a ceremonial tool used by heretics, crafted from the relic of a sealed outer god"; 'relic' in religious contexts indicates a body part of a holy being[[/note]], while the description of the Lake of Rot map says "the divine essence of an outer god is sealed away in this land." The Blue Dancer Charm also states a blind swordmaster had defeated this god ages ago, but was only able to seal it away, rather than kill it. However, as described in NothingIsScarier above, the true nature of this ancient god remains unclear.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Blue Dancer Charm talisman describes a legend in which a fairy bestowed a sword to a [[HeroOfAnotherStory blind swordsman]], who defeated and sealed way an ancient god of Rot itself. The location of where it was sealed is not known, though it's likely near the Lake of Rot. However, [[LeakingCanOfEvil the Scarlet Rot can still bless Malenia to become its proxy and spread the rot.]]
* ShoutOut: With Gowry's quest being a WholePlotReference to the poem ''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/19/Edward_gorey_insect_god_by_insectgod-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190610003409 Insect God]]'' by Edward Gorey (note that "Gowry" and "Gorey" are spelled the same in Japanese), the Rot's Kindred resembling giant arthropods and its physical form under the Lake of Rot resembling a tailed insectoid (going by the Scorpion's Stinger) is probably also meant as a reference to it.
* UndergroundMonkey: Many minibosses throughout Caelid are familiar enemies reskinned and recolored to reflect their corruption by Scarlet Rot; usually they gain the ability to spread Rot as an attack while gaining a weakness to fire. These creatures usually have the appellation "Putrid" by their name. Notably, even the servants of fellow outer gods aren't immune; Putrid Erdtree Avatars, which serve the Greater Will, exist, and there are a trio of Putrid Crystalians, alien life-forms affiliated with the Dark Moon.
* WeakToFire: The Rot's biggest weakness is that its very, ''very'' weak to fire. Radahn's Lordsworn have put this to good use, wielding torches and flaming weapons, using walls of smoldering stone to stave off the Rot's spread, and even burning an entire ''church'' at the entrance to Limgrave to prevent the Rot from spreading there. They also make use of the Fire Monks' Flame Chariots.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Frenzied Flame]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Flames of Chaos, Yelough
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lord_of_chaos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lord of Chaos, [[TheAntichrist avatar of cleansing]].]]
The migrants of the Great Caravan were never loved by the inhabitants of the Lands Between. Suspicious and hateful of the outsiders, the denizens of the land eventually turned on them ''en masse'', with accusations of wickedness and heresy. Falling upon the Great Caravan, the denizens of the Lands Between destroyed their home and massacred them, culminating in a terrible act of cruelty: thousands of nomads were executed by being BuriedAlive. The few survivors were scattered to the winds. Broken, consumed by despair and hatred, the survivors [[ThenLetMeBeEvil decided to embrace the moniker of heresy they could not escape]]. They called out for something, ''anything,'' to unleash destruction upon the Lands Between in retribution, consequences be damned...\\
\\
...[[GoneHorriblyRight and the Frenzied Flame answered them.]]\\
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An outer god associated with madness, knowledge, chaos, eyes, retribution, and the color yellow, the Frenzied Flame forgoes the usual machinations of other outer gods. It does not seek to form cults or establish dominion, though a few worshippers have nevertheless embraced it, pockets of violent madness standing out in an already violent world. The Frenzied Flame's foremost agent to spread its knowledge is Shabriri, the most reviled man in history, who blasphemed against the Golden Order and preached chaos and retribution. Though Shabriri was killed, the Frenzied Flame didn't let him die; he remains, able to BodySurf between corpses by dint of the Flame's power. More dangerous than Shabriri is the Three Fingers -- eerie counterparts to the Greater Will's Two Fingers -- manifested to serve a similar role to the Two Fingers; seek someone with the potential to inherit the will and power of the Flame to become the Lord of Chaos, as a true expression of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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Modern adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, yet they boast an impossible well of knowledge and are occasionally possessed of a disturbingly serene lucidity. One, Hyetta of Liurnia, is being groomed by the followers of the Flame to become a Finger Maiden to the Three Fingers. Hyetta claims that the Frenzied Flame despises the Greater Will for fragmenting an ancient source of life, the "One Great," to create the lesser forms of life -- from humans to animals to plants -- that populate the Lands Between. The Frenzied Flame would see the One Great restored, a wish that necessitates the eradication of all forms of life and the scorching of the entire world by the fires of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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So feared and reviled is the Frenzied Flame and its goal of universal destruction that all who have been uncorrupted by its influence oppose it. Its mortal adherents remained isolated, despised, and shunned, and the Three Fingers were imprisoned in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the Royal Capital, sealed by followers of the Greater Will. Still, the Three Fingers remain there even now, waiting for the one who would free them and become Lord of Chaos.\\
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Should the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] embrace the Three Fingers and become the Lord of Chaos, the Golden Order is supplanted entirely and the Frenzied Flame achieves its goal of bringing its purifying flames to all life that exists, culminating in the '''Lord of Frenzied Flame''' ending.
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* AmbiguousSituation: Its name may or may not be Yelough, which would make it the only Outer God with a name, but it's never given an explicit confirmation. Yelough only appears three times in the whole game, once as the "Eyes of Yelough" plant that appears in locations affected by the Flame of Frenzy, another time in the Yelough Anix Ruins, which has Frenzied Flame worshippers in it, and the nearby Yelough Anix Tunnels, which has nothing to do with the Frenzied Flame in either its design, enemies or boss (who is instead an Astel).
* TheAntiGod: The Frenzied Flame is the closest equivalent to an Anti-Greater Will. Whereas the Greater Will encompasses life, immortality, vegetation and order, the Frenzied Flame represents the end of life, destruction, flame, and chaos, and both employ their own 'Fingers' to choose a vessel to use as a pawn in their schemes. Out of all the Outer Gods at least presently active, the Frenzied Flame and the Greater Will have the most directly antagonistic relation.
* AssimilationPlot: Its most likely end goal. Shabriri and the Frenzied Spirit talk about "incinerat[ing] all that divides and distinguishes" and if Hyetta is given the words of the Three Fingers, she explains that as the Frenzied Flame sees it, all life was once the "One Great" who the Greater Will divided up to make life and souls as humans know them. The Frenzied Flame thinks that this was a mistake that led only to suffering, so it seeks to melt everything back into its original form as the One Great.
* TheBadGuyWins: If the Tarnished inherits the Frenzied Flame, they'll become the Lord of Chaos who will burn the Elden Ring, the Erdtree and likely all life, which -- whatever [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the motives]] might be -- is what the Three Fingers and its master want achieved.
* BodyMotifs: Eyes. The Frenzied Flame inflicts EyeScream on its adherents, but even as they lose their sight, they are filled with knowledge beyond mortal ken -- suggesting that they must lose their sight of the tangible world to gain true knowledge.
* BodyHorror: The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with eyes -- or rather, the lack of eyes. Humans and animals touched by it have their eyes burned out, jets of yellow fire emerging from the empty sockets in their place, and the swollen, pus-filled eyeballs are fed to adherents as "grapes".
* BrownNote: An unusual example; the Fingerprint Stone Shield is heavily implied to be branded by the Three Fingers with its fingerprints, serving as "messages". Getting bashed by this shield causes Madness build up, suggesting the mere act of ''touching'' the fingerprints causes Frenzy to spread onto you.
* ChaosIsEvil: "Evil" might be stretching it for a formless, alien deity, but its goals would certainly result in the death of all living things and its followers are threatening and sinister. The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with chaos, to the point of occasionally being ''known'' as the Flame of Chaos, and Shabriri desires for chaos to take the world. Interestingly, the Frenzied Flame's desire to return life to its primordial state of the One Great gives it some affiliation with the original definition of chaos as well as the modern version.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Even more so than any of the other Outer Gods, openly speading madness, destruction, and corruption.
* TheCorruption: The Frenzied Flame, while less extensively spread than the Scarlet Rot, causes the animals and people that it touches to go insane and infused with the flame itself, and causes unnatural fruits and vegetation like the Eyes of Yelough to grow.
* CrazySane: Adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, sometimes violently so, but also gain tremendous insight and wisdom of ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow.
* DespairEventHorizon: The Frenzied Flame seems drawn to people who cross it and begin to curse the world. The Great Caravan is the most notable example, but Castellan Edgar's questline ends with him infected by it as well, after his desire to avenge his beloved daughter degrades into murdering random travelers. Frenzied Flame incantations are also used by certain Leyndell soldiers on Mt. Gelmir, where the most horrific battle of the Shattering was (and sort of still is being) fought.
* EarnYourBadEnding: The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending is treated as a proper BadEnding, with Melina abandoning the Tarnished and all life [[WorldWreckingWave being scorched by the Frenzied Flame.]] It's also eminently avoidable: the game piles hint upon hint that the Frenzied Flame is bad news, only growing more obvious the closer the player gets to the Three Fingers, culminating in an [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically passionate]] plea from Melina to not pursue this action. Even if the player embraces the Three Fingers, they can purge the Frenzied Flame using Miquella's Needle, meaning that if the ending is achieved, it is certifiably the player's fault.
* {{Expy}}: Of Hastur as the King in Yellow, specifically his depiction in later ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' RPG sourcebooks: a yellow-colored force of entropy from the cosmos who spreads madness to his cult of followers, is empowered by negative human emotion, and takes various avatars to increase its power in the land. The [[https://i.imgur.com/LK67V7q.png Frenzy sigil even looks like the Yellow Sign.]] Note that Hidetaka Miyazaki is a self-admitted fan of ''Call of Cthulhu'', has cited nondescript tabletop [=RPGs=] as one of his main inspirations for ''Elden Ring'', and that one of the locations hosting Frenzy in-game is called the Yelough Anix Ruins.[[note]]Yelough is obviously an alternate spelling of yellow, while "anax" means king in Greek. Yellow King Ruins.[[/note]]
* EvilIsBurningHot: A deity of omnicidal mania that primarily manifests as mind-destroying yellow fire.
* EyeBeams: Most Frenzied Flame incantations involve blasting gouts of flame from your eyes.
* EyeScream: The first symptom of the Frenzied Flame taking hold (aside from murderous insanity), is the eyes growing diseased, swollen, and yellow. Either the eyes fall out intact (or get clawed out by their owners) and become Shabriri Grapes, or just straight up ''burst'' and become Yellow Embers, with the afflicted getting FireballEyeballs in their place. Hyetta eats Shabriri Grapes to feel the 'distant light' (i.e. the Three Fingers), and once she does find it and receives the Three Fingers' wisdom, she says that her eyes are ''melting''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Uniquely the only Outer God that doesn't appear to want one of [[TheChosenOne the Empyreans]] as its vassal, being seemingly content with any host strong enough to not completely lose their mind upon being touched by the flame.
* GoneHorriblyRight: The Frenzied Flame was awakened by the survivors of the Great Caravan. While some of the wandering merchants descended from the Caravan do seem to be adherents and will even use Frenzy abilities if aggroed, others seem to fear the Frenzied Flame just as much as anyone else, with one nomad in Liurnia outright warning the player from approaching the Frenzied Flaming Village to the northeast. It seems these nomads realized something that would kill all life would include ''them'' in the "all life" category.
* LightIsNotGood: The Frenzied Flame, as expected of a god of fire, is heavily associated with light. It's yellow flames can be seen lighting the darkness, and Hyetta refers to a "light behind her eyes" as she is slowly corrupted into serving as its Finger Maiden. Its association with knowledge also fits the trope per the familiar concept of the "light of knowledge". Yet the Frenzied Flame is an OmnicidalManiac which wishes to put all living things to the torch.
* MysticalPlague: The Frenzied Flame is contagious, though to a lesser extent than the Scarlet Rot. The whole point of its various incantations is to spread it to others. In gameplay this just kills them, but whole villages overtaken by the Frenzied Flame can be encountered while traveling, guarded by soldiers with a yellow flame painted on their shields to warn people away from them.
* NothingIsScarier: Like the Scarlet Rot, despite the spread of Frenzy and its madness in certain regions of the Lands Between and how universally reviled its influence is, remarkably little is known about its origin. While it supposedly first appeared to the Great Caravan, there are certain hints such as the existence of Cathedral of the Forsaken suggesting the Frenzy "sprouted" forth from the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers, who served an ancient god supposedly buried in the sacred tomb of frenzy acolytes. Like with Scarlet Rot, it is never made clear what this god is supposed to be -- possibilities include a previous Lord of Chaos or a vassal higher ranked than the Three Fingers, who is never referred to as a god even by frenzy adherents -- or if it is even ''dead''.
* NotQuiteDead: The Cathedral of the Forsaken is heavily implied to be a tomb housing an ancient god who originated the seeds from which Frenzied Flame sprouted forth. But given the Frenzy influnce is very much present and active in the Lands Between ever since the Great Caravan awakened it, this raises serious doubts if the deity is truly dead.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Frenzied Flame plays with this trope. Its flames only exist to [[TheCorruption corrupt all life and the land with Frenzy]], with Shabriri claiming its purpose is [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos to the world]]. However, while its objective certainly involves killing all life, Hyetta claims it actually desires [[AssimilationPlot to melt them all back to their primordial form]], a being who is called "One Great". Thus, while the Frenzied Flame's influence is omnicidal, it isn't necessarily because it wants life itself gone -- simply restored to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality what it considers proper]]. Of course, for all things currently living, the difference is mainly academic.
* PhysicalGod: Apart from the many forms of TheCorruption which Frenzied Flame can cause, the Outer God who originated Frenzy appears to have had a physical manifestation at some point in ancient history, as the Fingerprint Stone Shield found in the Cathedral of the Forsaken explicitly mentions it was part of the tomb of an ancient god. As NothingIsScarier above has explained, the nature of this god is more or less RiddleForTheAges.
* PowerBornOfMadness: As noted, the Frenzied Flame is strongly associated with frenzy, madness, and [[CrazySane insight through insanity]]. The Great Caravan merchants were blessed with the maddening flame when their minds fractured from crossing the DespairEventHorizon, Maidens of the Three Fingers are trained to develop clarity through madness, and incantations of Frenzied Flames involve producing fire through the eyes -- or to be more precise, ''the mind'' -- so much so that a fully realized Lord of Chaos has their heads burn away into a ''sentient ball of flame'', implying their mind is ''literally'' burning with Frenzy.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: While the Flame itself (allegedly) just wants to burn the world back to its primordial state, the people who wield it have usually crossed the DespairEventHorizon and just want to burn the world. This would have been most pronounced in Kalé's cut questline, in which his discovery of the massacre of the Great Caravan led him to beg the player to use the Frenzied Flame they called up to destroy everything, after trying and failing to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil do so himself]] (he reached the Three Fingers but they didn't accept him as a Lord). Hyetta also claims that all of the people who gave her "grapes" felt such despair as to wish they were never born.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: According to Hyetta, the Frenzied Flame believes the Greater Will was mistaken in creating individuality, life and souls in the Lands Between by dividing the One Great, and that it was this action which brought about all suffering, afflictions and curses. Their primary goal is to struggle against the Greater Will and its forces and undo this mistake by [[AssimilationPlot melting everything in the world back as one]].
* RecurringElement: Like the Dark Soul and its followers, most notably Kaathe, in the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, the Frenzied Flame is the antithetical power of the TopGod of the setting (Gwyn and the First Flame in Dark Souls, Marika and the Greater Will in this game) that promises a great change to the world order and to elevate the PlayerCharacter into the lord of the new age - ''un''like the Dark Soul, which was ambiguous in its danger at best, the game doesn't hide that the Frenzied Flame is a purely negative entity and its path is a case of EarnYourBadEnding.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Despite item descriptions saying that it only affects humans, there are also frenzied ''rats'' encountered in and around the Ailing Village and Frenzied Flame Village. Presumably this is because they ate the corpses of frenzied humans (i.e. the same reason rats drop Humanity in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls1'').
* StrawNihilist: Not the Outer God itself, who at least seems to be following a 'higher' purpose in its mass genocide, but its worshippers and servants definetly count. None of them other than Hyetta seem to care about the Frenzied Flame's AssimilationPlot, and are more in it to cause chaos to ravage the world and kill everyone due to a mix of despair-caused madness and nihilism.
* ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: This is the Flame's specialty. The more thoroughly its followers are touched by its madness, the more impossible insight they gain -- culminating in Shabriri bellowing that chaos should take the world and Hyetta asserting that all life is a mistake that needs to be corrected.
* UndergroundMonkey: Several types of enemies have variants that are afflicted with the Frenzied Flame and attack with Frenzied Flame incantations. These include the Cuckoo troops at the Frenzied Flame village and some of the Leyendell Soldiers at Mt. Gelmir.
* UnusualEuphemism: The swollen, chaos-filled eyeballs that its adherents feed to would-be Finger Maidens are euphemistically referred to as "grapes," seemingly because the Eye of Yelough, a corrupted plant touched by the Frenzied Flame, grows grape-like fruits that look similar to human eyes. Hyetta, at least, had no clue what she was actually eating until told by the PlayerCharacter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Formless Mother]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_mohgwyn_palace_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mohgwyn Palace, lair of her slaves]]
Mohg was one of the children of Marika and Godfrey. Born an Omen, he was hated and despised, sent in shackles to the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital alongside his brother, Morgott. While both brothers eventually escaped the Shunning-Grounds and rejoined society at large, Mohg was not so fast to reconcile as his brother. Going into hiding, Mohg saw the Shattering as an opportunity to seize power and gain dominion over the Lands Between. To do that, he would need the influence of an outer god to challenge the Greater Will -- and so he called upon the Formless Mother.\\
\\
One of the newer gods to arrive to influence the Lands Between, the Formless Mother, also known as the Mother of Truth, is heavily tied to Mohg and his ambitions. The Mother is, as she is described, a shapeless god without form; she is associated heavily with blood, pain, wounds, murder, violence, and an extremely twisted form of love and affection. Craving agony of her own, the Mother grants power to adherents who injure her; her burning blood emerges from injuries to manifest in the mortal realm, scalding those who earn her followers' ire. Every incantation of the followers of blood is in fact a ritualistic injury inflicted upon their insatiable god. Mohg, the Mother's earthly champion, has been granted burning blood of his own, a "gift" the Formless Mother has also bestowed on his twin brother Morgott -- whether he wants it or not.\\
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Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between.
----
* AmbiguousGender: The Formless Mother is the only outer god referred to with gendered pronouns or titles, including in item and incantation descriptions. Still, it's up in the air whether a formless deity that exists outside of space can even ''have'' a gender in the human understanding of the term, and Mohg may simply be projecting onto her.
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** She's implied to have some relation to Omens and their 'accursed blood', but it's not known how much. She chose an Omen as her prime apostle, and Mohg is described to have had his accursed blood set on fire when he encountered her, and the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear describes her as an "outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood." Notably, Morgott's cursed sword also has an effect similiar to Bloodflame, which is an odd standout on his otherwise holy-themed arsenal. It's not known if she's just, in an Outer God's twisted way, sympathetic to the Omens, if she finds their cursed blood just a convenient way to exert her influence, or if she's somehow the ''origin'' of said cursed blood.
** Some members of the Fire Monks wield a type of magic called Thorn Sorcery that summons blood-red barbs and briars from their self-inflicted wounds, the similar motifs (as well as the art's focus on [[CombatSadomasochist self-inflicted suffering]]) strongly imply the "Blood Star" that taught these monks in their dreams is actually the Mother.
* ArcVillain: As she's responsible for bestowing Mohg her power and his dream of reshaping Miquella as his consort. This makes her a [[GreaterScopeVillain greater scope variant]] for Miquella and Malenia's story since as an Outer God she's never dealt with directly. [[OutOfFocus She doesn't have much relevance to Elden Ring's story otherwise.]]
* BadBoss: Potentially to Mohg. He seems to view himself as an ascendant BigBad with the favor of an obedient patron deity, but ''any'' denizen of the Lands Between is at risk of misinterpreting [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the whims of an outer god.]] It's worth noting that Mohg's belief that his patron would resurrect Miquella led to Miquella's death, thus depriving the Greater Will one of its Empyreans, and despite all the HumanSacrifice, Miquella ''still'' hasn't come back.
* BloodMagic: The source of the Blood Oath school of Incantations, which consists of casters ''literally carving into her body and ripping out her veins'' to do things like create sprays of blood that burst into flames or summon swarms of flies. She can also harness the blood of living beings as a medium to manifest her power, and seems to be fond of bloodshed just for bloodshed's sake, giving Mohg a cult which promotes killing in her name. Her followers maim themselves using her blood, and use these injuries to invade and kill other Tarnished in their name and in hers.
* BodyHorror: If you can consider the air around Mohg to be her "body", then he's inflicting this on her constantly. Every spell he uses is caused by quickly mutilating the Mother and using her blood as a weapon.
* CombatSadomasochist: An odd example, as her sadomasochism is used for ''others''' combat. Using any Blood spell is described as causing a wound to the Formless Mother, causing her blood to manifest for the caster to manipulate. The Formless Mother actively ''encourages'' her followers to use her like this.
* CompleteImmortality: Implied. The Formless Mother is technically the only Outer God the players can 'harm' through the use of Blood Oath spells and Mohg's spear, stabbing through a red portal and splashing her blood onto your enemies; of course, she ''craves'' wounds, and is a cosmic beings of such proportions that human-inflicted wounds would never be able to kill her, if such a thing is even possible.
* TheCorruption: A subtler example compared to other Outer Gods, but still present: animals corrupted by her influence grow bloody warts all over their body similiar in appearance but distinct from creatures corrupted by the Scarlet Rot, and causes them to inflict magically-induced bleeding. On humanoids, or at least Albinaurics, her blood corruption causes the skin to turn blood-red and grow small horns on their heads, and allows them to (painfully) channel blood magic with their own bodies. She seems to have an effect on the land as well, as areas influenced by the Bloody Fingers have huge clumps of solid, seemingly coagulated blood ammassed on the ground.
* EvilIsVisceral: A deity associated with cruelty, blood, and murder, the base of operations for her followers is a ''lake'' of bubbling blood led by a grotesque monster with a horn [[EyeScream growing into his eye!]]
* HumanSacrifice: Her followers commit murder to empower themselves and her as well, and Mohg at least believes that with enough sacrifical blood, Miquella will be reborn into a biddable puppet.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The Mother and her followers express love and affection (which, for her followers at least, appears to be genuine in an extremely twisted way) by viciously harming and abusing the targets of their desires. This extends to the Mother herself, who craves wounds and whose followers ecstaticly maim and injure her formless body as a sign of devotion.
* MythologyGag: The Formless Mother is very likely a reference to [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Formless Oedon]]. Other than the similar epithet, they're both eldritch gods heavily associated with blood, both are tied to a slumbering infant god, both are associated with a [[AnimeCatholicism Catholic aesthetic]] (Oedon having chapels dedicated to him, the Formless Mother's main spot of worship being a fortified cathedral), both are the figures of worship of a ReligionOfEvil focused on blood and whose leader aspires to ascend to godhood, and both are completely physically absent from their respective games.
* NonIndicativeName: Her alternate title, the "Mother of Truth". Her adherents are secretive and deceptive, and she herself is implied to be manipulating Mohg.
* OneBadMother: One of the most overtly malevolent deities in the setting is called the "Formless Mother."
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The primary color scheme of a god associated with blood and murder is, you guessed it, red and black.
* {{Sadist}}: Mohg's overtly sexual and very depraved intentions for Miquella color a lot of what we know of the Formless Mother as well. She seems to enjoy receiving wounds, not unlike a real-life masochist, but her followers use her burning blood to maim and kill on her behalf, and seem to take pleasure in doing so. As seen in {{Yandere}} below, adherents of the Formless Mother almost seem incapable of differentiating between cruelty and affection.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As an Omen, Mohg was looked at as a demon and shunned by society. The Formless Mother encouraged him to become the monster that everyone saw him as.
* {{Yandere}}: Both of the major emissaries of the Formless Mother, Mohg and Varre, have a twisted and disturbing obsession with "love," and seem to think that the primary way to show it is through inflicting pain. That the Mother's followers show fealty to her by maiming her, and that she welcomes and even ''craves'' these wounds, indicate that it's a mindset learned from their patron goddess.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Outer God of the Twinbird]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' Ghostflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/y2dhscj0l4w81.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twinbird]]
Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
\\
This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, as not only is there little information about it, but [[NoNameGiven it is never given a formal title]], like "Formless Mother" or "Frenzied Flame". The game seem to suggest that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] directly related to this Outer God, only a few are [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguously linked]] to it, but they do not mention it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rite Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
\\
After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by Outer God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
----
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** While Those Who Live in Death are never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the Outer God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are associated with the idea of death and are depicted with various forms of black flames. Furthermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them. However, this is never fully explained.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Similar to the Moons, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the Outer God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the Twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The [[MonsterProgenitor Twinbird]] that arrived in The Lands Between in ancient times was probably not a "bird" as we understand the concept. Going by associated iconography, it had two heads, black and red feathers and it was ''huge''. If the description of it descending down from the heavens is literal, then [[FantasyAliens it flew through space from another world to get here.]] Somehow it mothered the Deathbirds, these freaky living skeletons that can control the blackflame, despite being the only one of its kind. Most disturbing of all, it has the ability to influence the souls of those who die in The Lands Between and can even control them with its unique powers.
* AnimalMotifs: Heavily associated with birds, especially carrion birds like crows and vultures which are frequently misunderstood scavengers; this ties into the belief that death is a natural part of life. Notably, the Deathbirds look vaguely like grotesque vulture chicks.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Its is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) and the Eclipse Shotel can inflict the crushing Deathblight.
* GodOfTheDead: Described as an God of death, its adepts practice necromancy, used ghostflame and sorcery linked to death and his vassals used to guide the souls of the dead before the era of the erdtree.
* HumanSacrifice: The Sacrificial Axe mentions that sacrificial rituals were part of the cult of the Deathbirds, but does not explore what exactly was sacrificed. The Red and Blue-Feathered Branchsword adds that, at the very least, followers offered themselves in some death rituals, in order to obtain a "glorious end" and give "a death worth offering".
* {{Necromancer}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame, and possibly being responsible for the spirits ashes. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
* NothingButSkinAndBones: Deathbirds have a totally flayed skull and are so skinny that their ribs is visible, they are also treated in the game "undead" (aka. Those Who Live in Death). Extrangelly, the only depict of their progenitor, the Twinbird, show her like a more lifull bird. Add the fact of their crackerl skull, is posible that the currentform wasn't always like this and its more a result of their Outer God be ascend.
* NotAfraidToDie: Most of the information on the subject indicated that death was considered sacred by the followers of the Deathbirds. They didn't seem to be afraid of dying; quite the contrary, they were willing to embrace their own death in the hope of being resurrected into something better.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The deathbirds are said to guard the ashes of the dead and guide them, and have command over wandering spirits with the power of ghostflame.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Subtle, but the elements are present. The oldest known death worship in the Lands Between (''"In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame."'') came from the Deathbirds, and they were known for burning the remains of the dead with their ghostflame and raking their ashes -- a ''role'' meant to be. Ancient priests who became guardians of these birds also went through the "rite of Death" to mark their oaths, sworn to a distant resurrection -- an oath sworn ''duty''.
* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones. The flame is described as [[ColdFlames cold to the touch]].
[[/folder]]
!!Unconfirmed Outer Gods:
[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
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Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\
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The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\
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Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to be the cause of these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* BanOnMagic: Possibly. The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Aberrant sorceries. As the sole patron of glintstone magic, this could be a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. This is helped by the fact that glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly]] wide [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] of [[StarfishAliens forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
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At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
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In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
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Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
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Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
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* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
[[/folder]]
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to be the cause of these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
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* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. Tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
to:
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. Tempered This is helped by the fact that glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
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* BanOnMagic: Possible. The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Aberrant sorceries. As the sole patron of glintstone magic, this could be a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
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* BanOnMagic: Possible.Possibly. The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Aberrant sorceries. As the sole patron of glintstone magic, this could be a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
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[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
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!!Confirmed Outer Gods:
[[folder:TheGreater Will]]
Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: TheErdtree, seat Lake of Rot, its power]]
prison]]
Thegodly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent Scarlet Rot is a golden star bearing a vassal beast to much-feared blight in the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints A festering plague that consumes anything it may be one. Originally, touches, the dragons held Rot is capable of killing even the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them unkillable; dragons, demigods, and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the Shattering, bring peace to disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the Lands Between, lands itself and become Elden Lord.even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
[[folder:The
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The
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Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\
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The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\
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Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default demigoddess Malenia, one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was before "blessed" in the Shattering, womb by the outer god, being born with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the Greater Will approves of this result, as battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the Erdtree power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has grown dim spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
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Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
\\
Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
\\
Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
\\
On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
\\
During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
\\
Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
\\
However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
\\
Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
\\
Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
\\
For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
\\
Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
\\
Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
\\
On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
\\
During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
\\
Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
\\
However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
\\
Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
\\
Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
to:
\\
For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites
\\
Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the
\\
Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but
\\
On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but
\\
During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own
\\
Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
\\
However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
\\
Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
\\
Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* BanOnMagic: The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Death and Aberrant sorceries. It's unknown if this prejudice has been developed solely by the academy, or if it's a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. Tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly]] wide [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] of [[StarfishAliens forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
\\
In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
\\
Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
\\
Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
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* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* BanOnMagic: The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Death and Aberrant sorceries. It's unknown if this prejudice has been developed solely by the academy, or if it's a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. Tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly]] wide [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] of [[StarfishAliens forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
\\
In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
\\
Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
\\
Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
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[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
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[[folder:The
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When
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At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
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In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
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Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
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Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
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* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
to:
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* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
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[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* BanOnMagic: Possible. The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Aberrant sorceries. As the sole patron of glintstone magic, this could be a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. Tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly]] wide [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] of [[StarfishAliens forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
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At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
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In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
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Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
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Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
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* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
[[/folder]]
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* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between with all elements of its presence in the world appearing accidental and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
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* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between with all elements of its presence in the world appearing accidental and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.it.
* BanOnMagic: The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Death and Aberrant sorceries. It's unknown if this prejudice has been developed solely by the academy, or if it's a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
* BanOnMagic: The academy seems to look with contempt any artifact that makes sorcery more accessible to certain groups, such as the Demi-Human Queen's Staff, and openly calls heretical anything that uses faith to cast sorcery, such as the Prince of Death's Staff or the Death and Aberrant sorceries. It's unknown if this prejudice has been developed solely by the academy, or if it's a sign that the Moons despise all sorcery that doesn't rely on the user's vast knowledge.
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* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. The threats of their stars -- namely the spread of glintstone as AlienKudzu and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry -- appear to be accidental, and tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of glintstones. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those]] [[CrapsackWorld entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
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* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. The threats of their stars -- namely the spread of glintstone as AlienKudzu and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry -- appear to be accidental, and tempered Tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of glintstones. [[AlienKudzu glintstones]] and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those]] [[CrapsackWorld those entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, as not only is there little information about it, but it is never given a formal title, like "Formless Mother" or "Frenzied Flame". The game seem to suggest that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] directly related to this Outer God, only a few are [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguously linked]] to it, but they do not mention it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rite Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, as not only is there little information about it, but [[NoNameGiven it is never given a formal title, title]], like "Formless Mother" or "Frenzied Flame". The game seem to suggest that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] directly related to this Outer God, only a few are [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguously linked]] to it, but they do not mention it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rite Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
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** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the Outer God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various types of black flames and are realted to the concept of death. Futermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various types of black flames and are realted to the concept of death. Futermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
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** Though While Those Who Live in Death have are never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the Outer God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are associated with the idea of death and are depicted with varioustypes forms of black flames and are realted to the concept of death. Futermore, flames. Furthermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, them. However, this is never fully explained.
** To Destined Death. Both are associated with the idea of death and are depicted with various
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* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
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* {{Necromancy}}: {{Necromancer}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame. ghostflame, and possibly being responsible for the spirits ashes. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.Necromancer.
* NothingButSkinAndBones: Deathbirds have a totally flayed skull and are so skinny that their ribs is visible, they are also treated in the game "undead" (aka. Those Who Live in Death). Extrangelly, the only depict of their progenitor, the Twinbird, show her like a more lifull bird. Add the fact of their crackerl skull, is posible that the currentform wasn't always like this and its more a result of their Outer God be ascend.
* NothingButSkinAndBones: Deathbirds have a totally flayed skull and are so skinny that their ribs is visible, they are also treated in the game "undead" (aka. Those Who Live in Death). Extrangelly, the only depict of their progenitor, the Twinbird, show her like a more lifull bird. Add the fact of their crackerl skull, is posible that the currentform wasn't always like this and its more a result of their Outer God be ascend.
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* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones and feels cold to the touch.
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* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones and feels bones. The flame is described as [[ColdFlames cold to the touch.touch]].
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** The Twinbird God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds have a more solid black fire with palish blue.
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** The Twinbird Twinbird's Outer God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds have a more solid black fire with palish blue.
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* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twimbird God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
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* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twimbird Twinbird's Outer God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
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* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for God of the Twibird, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and God of the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and God of the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
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* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for God of the Twibird, Twinbird's Outer God, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and Twinbird's Outer Godof the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and Twinbird's Outer God
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* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the God of the Twimbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twimbird God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while God of the Twimbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twimbird God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while God of the Twimbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
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* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the Outer God of the Twimbird Twinbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames.Twimbird Twinbird's Outer God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while the Outer God of theTwimbird Twinbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames.
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while the Outer God of the
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* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the God of the Twimbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
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* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the Outer God of the Twimbird.Twinbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
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** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the God of The Twimbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
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** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the Outer God of The Twimbird, Twinbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
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!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth, The Blood Star
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!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth, The Blood StarTruth
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[[folder:The God of the Twinbird]]
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[[folder:The Outer God of the Twinbird]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twimbird]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twimbird]]Twinbird]]
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving as not only is there little information about it, but it is never given a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother formal title, like "Formless Mother" or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting "Frenzied Flame". The game seem to suggest that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an are [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with ambiguously linked]] to it, but they don't speak of do not mention it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rites Rite Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
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After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
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After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by Outer God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
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** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various black flames and the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various black flames and the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
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** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the Outer God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various types of black flames and are realted to the concept of death. Futermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various types of black flames and are realted to the concept of death. Futermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
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** Similar to the Moon, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
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** Similar to the Moon, Moons, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the Outer God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about thetwinbird Twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the
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!!Potholes
# AdaptationalAttractiveness.LiveActionFilms: The novel ''Literature/BrightonRock'' concerns a romance ([[LoveMartyr of]] [[MarriageOfConvenience sorts]]) between two teenagers from an impoverished background. In the book, the boy has bitten-down fingernails and wears a shabby suit, and his face is covered with peach fuzz because he's not shaving yet. The girl is skinny almost to the point of emaciation and has thinning hair. In the 1948 movie, they're played by much more conventionally attractive (as well as {{Dawson Cast|ing}}) actors. The girl wears well-applied makeup, and the boy's suit is (though flashy and arguably distasteful) in good repair.
# YMMV.ANightmareOnElmStreetPart2FreddysRevenge: [[spoiler:Grady's death]]. Trapped in his room with Freddy slowly closing for the kill, he starts ''screaming'' for his father to come and help. Similar to Glen's death in the original, as he dies screaming for his mother, it reminds viewers that, DawsonCasting aside, in this universe, these are teenage ''children'' that Freddy is preying on.
# QuestionableCasting: Sometimes the result of FakeNationality, NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent or a combination of the two. RaceLift and DawsonCasting are also sometimes factors. In live-action media this may lead to cases of HollywoodGenetics. Can definitely stem from AbilityOverAppearance when an actor's talent and acting ability lands them the part despite their overall look not being what the filmmakers originally envisioned for the role.
# ArtisticLicenseHistory.{{Gladiator}}: Commodus was eighteen when Marcus Aurelius died (though in Franzoni's defence, he is described as such in the script, so we can consider Creator/JoaquinPhoenix being cast as a case of DawsonCasting). He ruled for 12 years before his murder, not just 150 days of games. He was also described as tall, muscular, with a face "[[{{Hunk}} handsome without being pretty]]", blond, and with curly beard and hair, [[HereditaryHairstyle just like his father]].
# Creator.OonaLaurence: She looks and frequently plays characters younger then she actually is, which leads to a lot of DawsonCasting.
# Funny.WetHotAmericanSummerFirstDayOfCamp: The most blatant use of DawsonCasting ever, as tweenaged Abby - who is convinced that BoysHaveCooties - gets her first period and hides in a bathroom stall... only to emerge boy-crazy, and played by 41-year-old Marisa Ryan.
!!Adults playing teenager/kids
# YMMV.PokemonLive: The entire show thanks to the DawsonCasting and plot elements that feel lifted from a fanfic (such as [=MechaMew2=] and Delia's secret past). It gets this even more in hindsight as the plot revolves around Ash growing up and him staying with Misty and Brock, which the anime itself moved on from.
# RealityIsUnrealistic.LiveActionTV: ''Series/{{Glee}}'', Much has been made by fans and critics alike that most of the cast members playing teenagers are [[DawsonCasting clearly in their 20's or even 30's]], particularly the male students. While this is true, it ignores the very real fact that different people age at different speeds, and it is completely possible for two teenage boys to be in the same grade despite one of them sporting a heavy beard and deep voice and the other unable to grow facial hair and squeaking like a 10-year-old (eg. Kurt, played by Chris Colfer, the only cast member who was still in his teens, albeit late teens, at the start of the show). It may look odd to see mid-30's Matthew Morrison playing a teacher the same age that he is while Cory Monteith and Mark Salling (both in their late 20's) played students in their late teens, despite them all three looking about the same age, but that's only due to how rare it is to see it on television. Many young-looking teachers in real life are mistaken for students, while many teens ages 15-18 are mistaken for adults (or, conversely, much younger children).
# Trivia.PatBenatar: She played a teenage runaway in the "Love Is a Battlefield" video when she was 30 years old, and in that song she repeatedly sings about how "we are young".
# Creator.LillianGish: [[invoked]] Several times, including playing a 15-year-old girl when she was 26 in the classic ''Film/BrokenBlossoms''.
# Trivia.JasperInDeadland: Jasper, Gretchen and Agnes are all 17, so the 5th Avenue actors (along with the Off-Broadway actors) were roughly a decade older than the characters they were playing.
# Trivia.{{Kids}}:
** Chloë Sevigny was 19 playing the 13-year-old Jennie. The actress she replaced (see below) was the same age.
** The 12-year-old Telly sleeps with in his opening scene is played by Sarah Henderson, who was 17. For obvious reasons, casting an older actress in this role was necessary.
# Trivia.OrangesAreNotTheOnlyFruit: Charlotte Coleman was in her early twenties when playing teenage Jess.
# Trivia.ICanDoBadAllByMyself: Hope Olaidé Wilson was 24 playing 16-year-old Jennifer.
# Trivia.BackToTheFuture: Marty, Lorraine, George, Biff, Jennifer, etc. Makes some sense in Lorraine, George, and Biff's cases, since in the first movie they had to play both their teenage selves and their adult selves. Initially, not so much the case with Jennifer, who was played by 19-year old Claudia Wells in the first film, but then played by 26-year old Creator/ElisabethShue in the Sequels and that wig she wore to make her resemble Creator/LeaThompson made her look every bit her age.
# Trivia.BloodyBloodyAndrewJackson: Walker, a six-foot twentysomething stud, spends the first ten minutes of the show playing a ten year-old version of Jackson.
# Trivia.PurpleRain: Appolina's application form gives her age as 19. She was 25 at the time.
# Trivia.ArloTheAlligatorBoy: Michael J. Woodard, who is in his early 20s, is cast as the 15-year-old Arlo.
# Trivia.DrySummer: Osman convinces Hasan to take the blame for Veli Sari's murder partly by telling him he will get a lighter sentence because he's young. This implies Hasan is a minor, when the actor Ulvi Dogan was in his thirties (and looked it).
# Film.StTrinians: St. Trinian's isn't Catholic but the trope still applies to the some of the senior girls ("St. Trinian's Girl" is the British name for this trope, and the 2007 movie provides the trope image - helps the vast majority of the cast [[invoked]][[DawsonCasting were in their 20s]]).).
# Trivia.{{Fortysomething}}: Creator/BenedictCumberbatch was about six or seven years older than university student Rory; sixteen-year-old Edwin was played by twenty-year-old Joe Van Moyland.
!!Others
# Trivia.FiftyShadesOfGrey: Elena 'Mrs Robinson' Lincoln is said to be in her [[VagueAge late 30's or early 40's]] in the books. In the films, she's played by Creator/KimBasinger, who was nearly ''63'' during filming.
# Trivia.JungleCruise: The real Prince Joachim was 25 at the time the movie takes place. Jesse Plemons was already in his early 30s.
# Trivia.HardCandy: Creator/ElliotPage was seventeen playing a (supposedly) fourteen year old girl. This has sparked fan theories that Hayley was pretending to be underage.
# Trivia.PsychoDaughter: Creator/SydneySweeney was 20 when she played Samantha, who was just a few weeks past her 18th birthday.
# Trivia.TheConstantGardener: Then 34/35 year old Creator/RachelWeisz as 24 year old Tessa.
# Trivia.MimpiMetropolitan:
** The 19/20-years-old main trio are played by mid-20s actors. In Bambang's case (whose actor is the oldest at 28), people in-universe also think that Bambang [[YoungerThanTheyLook doesn't look like his age]].
** Juna is 19 years old according to his ID and 21 years old according to dialogue, but is played by 24-years-old Harris Vriza.
** Dian is said to be Bambang's younger cousin, but his actor is much ''older'' than Bambang's (39 years old).
# Trivia.Halloween2018:
** Nick Castle plays 61-year-old Michael Myers, while he himself is 71. However, James Jude Courtney, Michael's actor for most of the film, was 61, Michael's exact age, during the time of filming.
** The high school students included 24-year-old Andi Matchiak (Allyson), 24-year-old Dylan Arnold (Cameron), 23-year-old Virginia Gardner (Vicki), and 26-year-old Miles Robbins (Dave).
** Jamie Lee Curtis is three years older than Laurie's age in the film. This coincidentally matches the first film as well, where she was twenty playing seventeen.
# Trivia.TheHillsHaveEyes1977: Brenda, who is presumably in her late teens, is played by the then-30 Susan Lanier. This would make her a year older than Creator/DeeWallace, who portrays Brenda's older sister Lynne.
# Trivia.TheCatherineTateShow: It's a sign of Tate's acting skill that she can play opposite Matthew Horne as both his high school love interest (Lauren) and his grandmother (Nan). Horne himself is in his thirties.
# Trivia.SabrinaTheTeenageWitch:
** Creator/MelissaJoanHart was twenty when Season 1 aired, playing Sabrina at sixteen. She doesn't turn eighteen until Melissa herself was twenty-four.
** Nate Richert was an aversion - he was seventeen and emancipated from his parents so he could work longer hours.
** Jenna Leigh Green and Michelle Beaudoin were the oldest of the actors playing high schoolers - already twenty-two and twenty-one respectively.
** Creator/LindsaySloane meanwhile was the same age as Valerie.
** Donald Faison was 23 playing fellow teenage witch Dashiel.
** It extends to the college seasons as well. Roxie is nineteen, but Creator/SoleilMoonFrye was twenty-four. Creator/ElisaDonovan was nearly thirty as Morgan (who is twenty-one at the oldest). Trevor Lissauer was twenty-five.
** One of the student extras was a ''[[http://imgur.com/p4R9ga4 balding man]]''!
# Trivia.FreaksAndGeeks: Averted by John Francis Daley (14), Martin Starr (16), Samm Levine (16) and, [[YoungerThanTheyLook surprisingly]], Seth Rogen (17). Downplayed with Creator/JasonSegel (19) and Busy Philipps (19). Played straight by Creator/JamesFranco (21) and Linda Cardellini (23).
# Trivia.StarWars: Retroactive example with Wedge Antilles. In the movie he is played by 28-29 year old Dennis Lawson, but in Rebels is revealed that he is almost the same age as Ezra and Sabine.
# WMG.CobraKai: There will be a RunningGag of people telling Terry Silver [[DawsonCasting he looks too young to have fought in Vietnam]].
# Trivia.The300Spartans:
** Sixty year-old Creator/RalphRichardson as forty-four year old Themistocles.
** Fifty-four year old David Farrar as thirty-nine year old Xerxes I.
# Trivia.UnnaturalHistory: Italia Ricci (Maggie) was 24 at the time of filming. A bit of a stretch for someone playing a high schooler, but she makes it work.
# Trivia.LifeWithDerek:
** Played straight with Ashley Leggat who was 19/20 playing a 15-year-old, and with Michael Seater who was 18 playing a 15-year-old.
** This was averted with Daniel Madger (Edwin), Jordan Todosey (Lizzie), and Ariel Waller (Marti), who were all around their characters' ages at the time of filming.
*** Actually, Daniel Madger is four years older than Jordan Todosey, despite them playing characters that are around the same age.
# Trivia.KamenRiderZiO:
** The then 21 years old Gaku Oshida and 20 years old Shieri Ohata portrays 18-years-old Geiz and Tsukiyomi respectively.
** Played straight with 22-year-old Atomu Mizuishi, who portrayed the then 18-year-old Ryuichi Sakuma/Another Faiz/Fourze in the 2003 era, and [[UnderageCasting inverted]] when he also portrays the 26/33-year-old versions of Ryuichi in 2011 and 2018 respectively.
** A downplayed example with 34-year-old Kento Handa; reprising his role as [[Series/KamenRider555 Takumi Inui]], he mostly appears in ThePresentDay but, for a few seconds, he also portrays his 18-year-old self in new footage featuring Takumi's powers being erased in 2003.
** 17/24/28-year-old Yuko Kitajima/Another Kiva is played by 40-year-old Yumiko Shaku.
# Creator.IsabelleFuhrman:
** Zigzagged in ''Orphan''. She was 11 playing the 9-year-old Esther Coleman. [[spoiler:Except Esther is actually a 33-year-old woman who suffers from dwarfism.]]
** Inverted in ''The Hunger Games''. While Clove's age is never stated in the books, it's implied that she is one of the older tributes, making her at least 16, while Fuhrman was 14 at the time of filming.
** Played straight with the ''Orphan'' prequel ''[[Film/OrphanFirstKill First Kill]]'', where she reprises her role as Esther at age 25. The filmmakers have used primarily practical makeup and camera effects to "de-age" her.
# Trivia.SurvivingMiddleSchoolABullyingStory: The voice actors often don't sound like the 11- or 12-year-olds they portray.
# Trivia.SherlockHolmes:
** Some thought that Creator/JeremyBrett was too old to play Holmes. Brett was 51 when he started the series and Holmes is meant to be in his thirties.
** In ''The Sign of Four'', Thaddeus and Bartholomew Sholto were supposed to be thirty years old, although Ronald Lacey was 51 when he played them.
# Trivia.TheRocketeer: Kit, who is 7, is voiced by the 14-year-old Kitana Turnbull.
# Creator.EdoardoNevola: He was 42 when he started to voice teenage Will Smith in Fresh Prince. And ironically, his portrayal of Will was higher-pitched than Will Smith's real voice.
# Creator.TamzinMerchant:
** Notably averted with her role as Georgiana Darcy in the 2005 adaptation of ''Pride and Prejudice''; Georgiana has recently turned 16 years old while Merchant herself was 17 during filming. Georgiana was one of Merchant's first roles.
** Katherine Howard is believed to have mostly likely been born in 1523, making her around 17 when she married Henry VIII in 1540 and 19 when she was executed in 1542. Merchant was around 21 when she first played Katherine (before her marriage to Henry), though this is understandable given the sexual nature of the role; Merchant was also able to pass for a teenager well. It's also worth noting some sources place Katherine's birth year slightly earlier, which would make Merchant almost exactly the right age.
** She was 22 when she played Daenerys in the ''Game of Thrones'' pilot, who is 16-turning-17 at the beginning of the show; once again this is understandable given [[RapeAsDrama some of the stuff]] Daenerys goes through; she was already [[AgeLift aged up]] from 13-turning-14 as she was in the books.
** Imogen Spurnrose is 22 in ''Carnival Row'''s first season, while Merchant was in fact 30 and turned 31 during the filming of Season 1. The second season takes place a few months after the first, so Imogen is about the same age while Merchant was 33/34 during filming and turned 36 by the time Season 2 finished airing.
# Creator.WinonaRyder: Averted early in her career, when she was close in age to most of her teenaged characters. She was sometimes criticized for playing teen roles ("I'm like, 19. What do they want me to play, a judge?"). She became a straighter example of the trope as she grew older. She was 28 in ''Film/GirlInterrupted'' whilst her character was 18. Her petite frame and wide eyes contribute to looking much younger.
# Trivia.LazerTeam:
** The official document concerning "six-year-senior" and high school quarterback Zach as seen in the film lists his birth year as 1996. Creator/MichaelJones was born in 1987.
** Likewise, Woody's birth year is seen as 1995. Creator/GavinFree was born in 1988.
# Trivia.{{Eureka}}: In the episode with the isolation environment. Wound up making the "long distance relationship" going on there really creepy. Completely averted by Zoe, however (Creator/JordanHinson is actually about two months ''younger'' than her character). During the pilot Hinson was 13 playing 15, but, by the time of the series she was closer to her character's age.
# Trivia.WetHotAmericanSummerFirstDayOfCamp:
** Even more ridiculous than the film with everyone being fourteen years older but playing a couple months younger. And there's a couple special cases, as [[spoiler:Lindsay is really an adult undercover for a magazine article (though 41 year old Elizabeth Banks is still playing significantly younger than her real age), and Abby is played by a real teenage actress until she gets her first period.]]
** Though funnily enough, many viewers have noted the joke largely falls flat as many of the actors don't seem to have aged a day (the big exception being Michael Showalter, who is not only visibly older but has also put on a significant amount of weight).
** Kinda subverted with Samm Levine, who at his 33 years still sounds very much like in the original film, filmed not so long after acting in ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks''.
# Trivia.DropDeadGorgeous: To varying degrees. For instance, Creator/BrittanyMurphy was 21 and Creator/AmyAdams was 24 during filming. Meanwhile, Creator/DeniseRichards was old enough to be going to her ten-year reunion. Surprisingly averted with the lead, though. Creator/KirstenDunst was actually 16 during filming, a year ''younger'' than her character.
# Trivia.MiraRoyalDetective:
** Mira, who is 8, is voiced by Leela Ladnier, who is 16.
** Some of the child characters, Priya, Neel and Veer for example, are voiced by actors in their teens or 20s; Meena and Pinky are voiced by women who are at least 30 and 40.
# Trivia.AlloAllo: Prior to this show, Richard Gibson had been TypeCast as a [[DawsonCasting an actor who played youths]]. Herr Flick gave him the chance to show that he could play older characters as well.
# Trivia.ScreamTheTVSeries: Applies to all actors portraying the main cast, who are all in their 20s while playing high school students. The only aversion is Riley, who is played by 17-year-old Brianne Tju
# WMG.Merlin2008: Mentioned earlier on the page, but it has enough merit to be recognized. Morgause appears older than Morgana, enough that having a child around his [[DawsonCasting age]] is not out of the realm of possibility, and we really have no idea what she's been up to before showing up in Camelot. She might have given up the child to his Druid father or, due to prophecies, left him behind with supporters of the Old Religion. In "Literature/{{The Once and Future King}}", it is Morgause who is Mordred's mother, and Morgana being his aunt could explain their connection.
# Trivia.PeepingTom: Dora the prostitute is referenced in the Daily Mirror headlines as a "young girl". But Brenda Bruce was 40 during shooting. Helped by her being OlderThanTheyLook.
# Creator.JessicaParkerKennedy: Due to her short stature and [[OlderThanTheyLook very youthful appearance]], she usually plays characters who are a decade younger than her.
# DuelingWorks.FilmDrama: ''Film/TheTrialOfTheChicago7'' (2020) / ''Film/JudasAndTheBlackMessiah'' (2021)
** '''Capsule Pitch Description:''' Young radical leftist activists ([[DawsonCasting played by much older actors]]) in late 1960s UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} are targeted by the U.S. government; Illinois Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton features as a supporting character, and his murder by police and the impact it has on other activists are important to the plot.
# Trivia.BigTimeRush:
** The guys are about 3-4 years older than the standard sophomore/junior high school age, as is Creator/ErinSanders who plays Camille.
** Surprisingly, Creator/CiaraBravo who plays Katie was between the ages of 12-16 playing a character three years younger than herself. It's not an egregious example as Ciara looked the age of her character.
# Trivia.CharmedS7E8CharmedNoir: Bug Hall was nineteen playing the Magic School student Eddie Mullen. But since Paige's assistant in "Cheaper By the Coven" says he's twenty-one (and she refers to him as a student), it's possible Magic School has older students.
# YMMV.{{Grease}}: All the actors [[DawsonCasting playing teenagers]] wouldn't even pass for college students, especially Creator/StockardChanning (who was in high school in ''actual'' 1959).
# Series.SavedByTheBell2020: Mocked in episode 4, where the seniors at Bayside are portrayed by senior citizens. Only Aisha seems to notice.
# Trivia.StElsewhere:
** Practically none of the actors playing the interns in the first season were as young as their characters were supposed to be (roughly 25-29). Terrence Knox was 36 in the first season, while Ed Begley, Jr. was 33, and David Morse was 29. Knox and Begley were actually older than Cynthia Sikes, who played senior Resident (later Attending) Dr. Cavanero, a character who was considered one of the longest-serving female doctors at the hospital.
** Tom Hulce was 29 when he played John Doe #12 (David Stewart), who is about 16 or 17, in "Graveyard", "Release" and "Family History". Dr. Philip Chandler repeatedly refers to David as a kid. He is played by Creator/DenzelWashington, who is one year younger than Hulce.
** Creator/EricStoltz was 21 or 22 when he played the 15-year-old Eddie Carson in "Under Pressure", "Entrapment" and "All About Eve".
** The 22-year-old Lycia Naff played the 14-year-old Maddy Holmes in the Season Three episodes "Saving Face", "Give the Boy a Hand" and "Any Portrait in a Storm".
** In the Flashback heavy episode of "Time Heals" it's laughably impossible to buy Ed Flanders and William Daniels as 25 year old intern versions of Westphall and Craig.
** Robert Romanus was 29 when he played the teenager Nick Meose in the Season Four episode "The Naked and the Dead".
# Creator.HaydenPanettiere: Averted through most of her time on ''{{Series/Heroes}}''; inverted with ''Film/IcePrincess'' (shot when she was 14; she plays a teenage skater in the same grade as 17-year-old Casey, who's played by then-18 Michelle Trachtenberg); not averted at all for ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' or ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' (or ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' by the time of ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'').
# WesternAnimation.ChickenLittle: Chicken Little sounds much older than 12 years old, being voiced by [[DawsonCasting 30-year-old Zach Braff]]. The same applies to Abby Mallard, who's 13 years old and looks it, but is given a much more mature-sounding voice by Creator/JoanCusack.
# Trivia.{{Election}}: Creator/ReeseWitherspoon and Creator/ChrisKlein were 23 and 20 respectively when they starred in this film. Averted with most of the extras and minor student roles as it was filmed on location at a real high school. This was parodied in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Smooshed: A Love Story", where Witherspoon poses as a student at Steve Smith's high school in order to convince people that she can pass as a high schooler and make a sequel to this film.
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[[WMG:[[center: [-''VideoGame/EldenRing'' '''[[Characters/EldenRing Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingTheTarnished The Tarnished]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMarika Marika]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''Outer Gods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingGodfrey Godfrey]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMorgott Morgott]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMohg Mohg]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn Radahn]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRykard Rykard]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRanniTheWitch Ranni the Witch]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]
!The Outer Gods
!!WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS
Unseen and phenomenally powerful entities from outside the world, said to be similar in nature and might to the Greater Will. Few mortals are aware of their existence; those who do call them "outer gods" of various different motifs. Greater in strength and power, even beyond Marika and her ilk, these entities have exerted their influence ever since the ancient history of Lands Between, and some are still trying to expand their reach even further. Unseen and acting through proxies and catspaws, they nevertheless wield tremendous influence over the setting of ''Elden Ring'' and its plot and backstory. Many of them act as rivals to the Greater Will, and some have direct influence in some of the game's MultipleEndings.
The exact number and identity of the outer gods is impossible to determine, due to occasionally conflicting information in the lore, plus the Golden Order having actively sought to erase or distort the knowledge of its rivals. Nevertheless, the following deities can be reasonably identified:
* The Greater Will itself, the higher power that bestowed the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Golden Order the tree imposes, who guided Marika before the Shattering.
* The Dark Moon, an entity associated with glintstone sorceries and the night sky, and the only outer god whom the Greater Will has an explicit alliance with.
* The Scarlet Rot, described as "Rot itself", a manifestation of disease, decay, and rebirth.
* The Frenzied Flame, an entity associated with madness and chaos that is hated and feared across the Lands Between.
* The Formless Mother, also known as the "Mother of Truth", a being of formless burning blood that is worshipped by the Bloody Fingers.
* The Outer God of the Twinbird, an entity affiliated with ghostflame and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.
* The "fell god" of the giants, a once-great entity associated with fire whose influence over the Lands Between was mostly wiped out when Marika annihilated its servants, the giants.
Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Outer God of the Twinbird. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.
Due to the outer gods' presence, nature, and motives being central to the history of the setting and the plot of the game, '''all spoilers involving them are unmarked''', so tread carefully.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:In General]]
'''Tropes applying to most or all of the outer gods:'''
* AboveTheGods: While they are not invincible or all-powerful (one of them was [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome defeated by a mortal]]), the game makes it clear their strength is far above the demigods and supposed "one true god" Marika (who is herself empowered by a similar being). The Scarlet Rot can ascend an [[ChosenOne Empyrean]] to the rank of God in Truth while imprisoned and the Formless Mother can do this too. And the Frenzied Flame is even more powerful. [[spoiler:Its unleashed strength can [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] and split the Erdtree]]. This provides a solid link to them, the Greater Will and the [[spoiler:Dark Moon]] the only other beings confirmed to have such power.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Whether or not the One Great described by Hyetta, speaking on behalf of the Frenzied Flame, even ''exists'', and if it does, whether or not it is an outer god. Hyetta describes it as the original form of life in Lands Between, fractured and divided into various lifeforms due to a mistake from the Greater Will. However, there is no information whatsoever about One Great's nature of being, as it is only hinted as an outer god because of circumstantial clues and the fact its state of being is a concern of the Frenzied Flame, which is definitively an outer god.
** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: All of them to a lesser or greater degree:
** The Greater Will seems to be ''mostly'' good, but how much of that is colored by the perception of its human followers is ambiguous. It abandoned the Lands Between for reasons unknown once Marika defied it, and it also ambiguously tolerates the Scarlet Rot's intercession in its affairs, despite the fact that the Will's own followers view being infected with Rot as a FateWorseThanDeath.
** The Dark Moon's affiliation with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the fallingstar beasts and Astel paints it as horrifying by the Earth-like standards of the Lands Between, but it seems to view those creatures as little more than animals. Its glintstone grows and consumes surrounding land and life, and both the starborne beasts and the glintstones were apparently sent to the Lands Between ''by accident'', or at least not deliberately. The closest it seems to get to intentionally interacting with mortals is providing means to encourage self discovery and that only if said mortals contact it first.
** The Scarlet Rot and its followers seem to consider the horrible fates inflicted on those with Scarlet Rot -- their flesh rotting, their mind decaying, their soul withering -- as some sort of baptism so they can be reborn into their kindred. In particular, Sage Gowry believes Millicent being consumed by her rot due to despair and becoming a scarlet rot flower to be utterly "magnificent" with no malice whatsoever, finding it a joyous occasion. Despite Malenia and Millicent being the two proxies it works through during the events of the game, both of them hate the Rot and seek to throw off its influence -- something that the outer god doesn't seem to mind, or even be aware of. Notably, the fact that the Rot-blessed Malenia was named Empyrean by the Two Fingers indicates the Greater Will, or at least its envoys, do not view the Scarlet Rot's motives and methods negatively.
** The Frenzied Flame views all life as an aberration created by the Greater Will, and seeks to return life to its original, singular state -- an act which would necessitate the destruction of ''every living thing'', from humans to plants and animals and even fungi and microorganisms. Its adherents view this as a good thing, and they also willingly allow the Flame to blind them as it fills them with [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow esoteric knowledge]], offering their pus-filled eyes as "grapes" to Hyetta in order to inflict her with the Flame's madness, a fact which initially disturbs her but which she soon grows to relish.
** The Formless Mother relishes in pain and agony, not only in the inflicting of it in others but in ''herself''; her incantations involve maiming her [[note]]''somehow,'' as she is without form as her epithet implies[[/note]] and allowing her blood to manifest in the mortal realm. She "blesses" her champion Mohg with burning blood, a fate that seems agonizing yet which both the Mother and Mohg himself view positively, and bestowed the same upon Mohg's twin Morgott, a fate Morgott never asked for. This is especially bizarre as Morgott is an impossibly devout follower of the Golden Order, who is otherwise unaffiliated with her in any way. Notably for the Formless Mother, while her followers will typically inflict blood loss when they attack their foes, she does not grant immunity to blood loss the same way those inflicted with Scarlet Rot are immune to it: Wounds are sacred to her.
** The one who sent the Twinbird has the most obscure motivations of all. The Deathbirds appear to hold "death" as sacred, seeing as they devote their lifetime to burn the remains of the dead and rake their ashes, but the birds were also known to make pacts with priests who swore to become their guardians in exchange for a "distant resurrection", which mean they are not particularly against resurrections.
** The fell god of the giants is the only one to which this doesn't apply, simply because almost ''nothing'' is known about it. What little is understood is that it both inhabited the giants and ''enslaved'' them, and both parties viewed this as a benevolent act.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The outer gods are shown to be able to [[WindsOfDestinyChange alter the destiny]] of individuals of their choosing, in much the same manner the Greater Will uses its emissaries the Two Fingers to choose individuals to be its Empyreans to bear the Elden Ring.
** After studying the stars, various sorcerers encountered "Moons" which guide them using the very stars. The Carian royal family in particular was granted knowledge about various truths of the universe and the Sorceries they wield, eventually culminating with Ranni, who is able to channel the Dark Moon with her Sorcery. Radahn's action of blocking falling stars and the light of the distant stars had halted this for a while, but his defeat allows the Dark Moon to once again guide Ranni.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared to [[TheChosenMany the people of Great Caravan due to their despair and curse for the world]], and sent its emissary the Three Fingers to choose individuals with the potential of becoming its divine manifestation -- the Lord of Chaos. Shabriri is also granted the ability to BodySurf corpses so he can continue preaching about its influence.
** The Scarlet Rot foregoes using any emissary, as it blessed Malenia ''directly in the womb'' with Rot. It's unclear what factors allowed it to do so, given most instances of outer gods directly blessing individuals generally happen because said individuals encountered, contacted, or attracted their attention in some way, and Malenia certainly was unable to as a fetus. There are a number of factors which might explain this[[note]]as Malenia was born from Marika and Radagon -- who are the same person -- which Goldmask implicitly calls an imperfection in the Golden Order, it is possible the twins born of them are not under Erdtree's Grace and thus ripe for outer gods to directly influence; it is also possible Greater Will does not view Scarlet Rot in an antagonistic manner like it does outer gods of fire, and thus has no issue with the Rot blessing Malenia -- as despite Malenia's Rot being a great danger to everything around her since ''birth'', the Two Fingers still chose her to be a candidate for Empyrean[[/note]], but none of them can be confirmed.
** The Formless Mother came to Mohg as a child and taught him how to draw upon her power through Blood Incantations. She later tasked him with kidnapping one of the Empyreans so she could corrupt them with her blood into a vassal, whom Mohg could wed to become "the Lord of Blood".
** Dragonlord Placidusax was Elden Lord in an age before Godfrey and Marika, suggesting that he and his spouse were chosen as the Greater Will's foremost emissaries. Notably, despite his god[[note]]Not "outer god", so presumably a deity similar to Marika.[[/note]] having fled the Lands Between in the aftermath of most of the dragons abandoning it for loyalty to Marika's Golden Order, Placidusax is said to be stalwartly awaiting its return.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (death, disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: At least a few of them appear to be empowered by faith and worship in some way. One of them (the Frenzied Flame) awakened in the Lands Between by a curse of despair chanted by the people of the Great Caravan upon losing their cherished home. The influence of the fell god seems tied to their followers, with the fell god's influence waning considerably when the giants were wiped out.
* TheCorruption: At least three of the outer gods (the Dark Moon, the Scarlet Rot, and the Frenzied Flame) have their essences manifest as forces which can corrupt Lands Between and its inhabitants to varying degrees. See their individual folders for more.
* ColorMotif: Just like the Greater Will is heavily associated with gold and the Dark Moon with blue, some of the other Outer Gods are associated with red:
** Scarlet Rot is called such due to its vivid scarlet color -- most notably Caelid and the Lake of Rot being heavily tinted in almost all aspects. It also generally goes together with muted, organic colors that show up on the plants/mushrooms that accompany its influence.
** Yellow is heavily associated with the Flame of Frenzy. Many of its items are yellow and it's directly called the "yellow flame of frenzy".
** The Twinbird God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds have a more solid black fire with palish blue.
** The Formless Mother and the weapons/spells that derive from her and her cult are represented by a deep, bloody shade of red with some black mixed in.
** The fell god is associated with the rich orange-red of forge flames.
** While primarily associated with gold, the Greater Will has a subtle connection to red too. Specifically in the form of the Primordial Crucible (the form the Erdtree took before the Golden Order) which is linked with red-tinged gold. The red lightning of Ancient Dragons (one of whom is the Elden Ring's previous wielder) may be linked to the Greater Will too as it is noted to be tinged with gold.
* CosmicChessGame: They seem to be in a struggle with each other to spread their influence across the Lands Between, and mostly do so by using native inhabitants of the realm as proxies:
** The Greater Will has exerted the most direct influence over the Lands Between, to the point that its Golden Order serves as the basis for the laws of reality itself. Raising Marika to godhood and gifting her the Elden Ring to cement her power, it directed her to war against the giants, servants of an outer god. It tolerated reverence for the Moons done by the Liurnians (likely because they had initiated conversation with the Dark Moon, rather than the other way around) and, for whatever reason, also either allowed the Scarlet Rot to bless Malenia in the womb with its Rot or took no steps to curtail its influence, even naming her an Empyrean. The Greater Will's hold on the Lands Between has started to slip as Marika, its foremost servant, rebelled against it and shattered the Elden Ring. Having abandoned the Lands Between due to Marika's betrayal, it is poised to be usurped by outer gods, which indeed is possible for the Dark Moon, the Frenzied Flame, and Death in some of the game's MultipleEndings. In the base ending, the Golden Order is established as-is with the PlayerCharacter as Elden Lord; the Age of Order ending establishes a modified version of the Golden Order in which gods like Marika are no longer allowed to act as they please. The Blessing of Despair ending establishes a twisted return of the Golden Order stained by the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, in which all present and future generations will be barred from returning to the Erdtree.
** The Dark Moon is rather unique compared to the Greater Will or the others with known influence in Lands Between, in that it doesn't seem to be actively spreading its influence. The phenomenon of its falling stars hitting Lands Between seems to occur naturally, as the Dark Moon didn't make its existence known to the ancient humans who discovered its [[AlienKudzu Glintstones]] until after the ancient astrologers developed Sorcery using the stones and then encountered it in their studies of stars. After that, its influences are through [[{{Lunacy}} guiding moonlight]] and very personal in nature to each individual seeking its guidance, as the likes of Ranni, Azur, Lusat and various others were all inspired with different Sorceries from it. Even the star spawn creatures rising from its meteors are not implied to be directed or guided by it, instead [[FisherKingdom evolving and gaining traits based on where they landed in Lands Between]], with equal chances of becoming either sapient and civilized beings like Alabaster and Onyx Lords or animalistic and calamitous forces like fallingstar beasts and Astel. The Dark Moon can assume influence over the Lands Between in place of the Greater Will if the player pursues the Age of the Stars ending, but even that is largely due to the machinations of Ranni and the PlayerCharacter and Ranni's descriptions imply that the Dark Moon's influence on the world will not extend further than keeping other Outer Gods at bay.
** The Scarlet Rot once had an attempt to spread its influence at some point in history, but was halted under unknown circumstances and now [[SealedEvilInACan a part of its essence is sealed beneath]] [[GardenOfEvil the Lake of Rot]], turning it into [[LeakingCanOfEvil the hellish pit it is now]]. Even so, it doesn't stop [[PoisonousPerson creatures of rot]] from being born there, nor does it stop madmen from forming the [[BreedingCult Order of Rot]] to worship the Scarlet Rot, mutate themselves and others into rot creatures, and facilitate its spread. It also "blessed" [[TheChosenOne Malenia]] in the womb with the Rot, and the main goal of the Order of Rot (and, implicitly, the god they worship) is to get either Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and "bloom," becoming true avatars to the Scarlet Rot. Interestingly, the fact that the Greater Will took no steps to prevent the Scarlet Rot from infecting Malenia and that its envoys declared her an Empyrean indicates that it may not view Scarlet Rot as an enemy -- for whatever reason.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared prior to the Shattering to Shabriri and the Great Caravan who fell to [[DespairEventHorizon despair when they were buried alive underground for their heretical beliefs]]. Unlike the others known to influence Lands Between, the Frenzied Flame isn't keen on forming a cult, but instead dedicates its chosen ones to spread the corrupting flame of [[PowerBornOfMadness madness]] to other life and to [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos across the land against any form of order, chiefly being the Golden Order which Marika imposed]]. Its end goal is fairly vague, with those who possess insight to its nature claiming it desires to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all life on this world]] so these lifeforms [[AssimilationPlot can return to their original primordial form called the "One Great"]], but whatever it wants, it involves [[WorldWreckingWave burning the entire world with Frenzied Flame]]. Although the servants of other outer gods have succeeded in sealing away its envoy, the Three Fingers, it can still get its wish if the PlayerCharacter meets with the Fingers and takes in the Frenzied Flame, becoming the Lord of Chaos.
** During the Shattering wars, Mohg contacted an entity he calls "Formless Mother" and "Mother of Truth" in the hopes of [[DealWithTheDevil resurrecting Miquella as his divine consort and foundation of his dynasty]]. She complied, [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge granting him the knowledge]] to invent BloodMagic incantations derived from her blood and Mohg formed [[ReligionOfEvil a cult to spread bloodshed]] to harvest enough blood as sacrifices to resurrect Miquella. Her blessing of Mohg's reluctant twin Morgott, and the apparent failure of Miquella to be resurrected, may indicate that the Formless Mother has [[UnwittingPawn greater plans than Mohg realizes]].
** The Deathbirds are mothered by a "twinbird" envoy of an outer god associated with death. They were once prominent prior to the Age of the Erdtree, comparable to {{psychopomp}}s in role and described as keepers of "ghostflames" which burn the remains of the dead into ashes. They are considered malevolent deities by the Golden Order, which contributed to their fading into obscurity. Its motivations are by and large a mystery, because the Deathbirds have largely gone into hiding.
** The Fire Giants were heavily implied to [[{{Precursors}} have built a civilization]] who worshipped and [[DivineAssistance borrowed the power]] of a "fell god" which dwells in their flames and their very bodies, and [[DivineConflict this is heavily implied to be the reason why Marika and her Empire were ordered by the Greater Will to eradicate them]]. Though it's never explicitly referred to as an outer god, the fact the flame within the Forge of Giants remains undying despite Marika's attempt to extinguish it -- even with the power of Elden Ring -- and its ability to burn the Erdtree implies it is one. Whatever plans the fell god had appear to have fallen with the giants' civilization, and now it is simply used as a stepping stone to overcome the obstacles set forth by the Greater Will and, potentially, allow other gods to take the stage.
* CosmicEntity: At least two of these beings are noted to influence the cosmos beyond the world of Lands Between, the Greater Will and the Moons. While it doesn't say so outright, the Future Press guide also heavily implies that the beings identified as "outer gods" are from the cosmos; it introduces them by saying that "the fledgling planet was not alone in the vast expanse of the cosmos, and before long a host of outer gods and fell creatures of the starry void took notice of its existence", with the story section about them titled "Visitors From Beyond." Wherever they're from, it's definitely not the Lands Between.
* DespairEventHorizon: A trait shared by the Frenzied Flame and Scarlet Rot is that they have a much easier time taking over their appointed vessels if the vessel experiences great despair, presumably because it causes their will to be broken. In fact, the Frenzied Flame only exists because this horizon was collectively crossed by an entire race.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The outer gods appear to lack a true form which can ''die'', but any physical influence, proxies, and manifestations they have can be beaten back, sealed or killed. Marika's Empire defeated the Fire Giants so thoroughly that their fell god's influence is effectively removed from the land. An ancient god of Rot was said to be defeated and sealed away by a blind swordsman with a sword bestowed by a "fairy", now locked somewhere in the Lake of Rot. The Fingerslayer Blade is also said to be able to harm the Greater Will and its vassals, and Ranni proves she can kill at least the Two Fingers with it. The Fire Giant offers its leg before its chest opens revealing a grotesque face similar to depictions of the fell god; since the fell god was said to reside ''in'' the giants, this suggests the Giant may be channeling or even taken over by the fell god, but it is still defeated just like any other boss. And in all endings, the player challenges and defeats the Elden Beast, an embodiment of the order of the Greater Will.
* DivineConflict: Most of the wars in the history of the Lands Between are a series of secret proxy wars fought by the outer gods for control over the land, and the Shattering is no exception.
* TheDreaded: With the exception of the Greater Will, which is widely viewed as benevolent, and to a lesser extent the Dark Moon, whose glintstones are viewed as dangerous yet important sources of sorcery, almost every outer god invokes fear in those who know of it:
** The Scarlet Rot inflicts a FateWorseThanDeath upon infectees, and Radahn's forces have more or less tapped out of the Shattering entirely in a desperate attempt to contain its spread.
** The Frenzied Flame's infliction of madness and [[OmnicidalManiac desire to end all life]] terrifies anyone who knows of it. Its first adherent, Shabriri, is described as "the most reviled man in history" and is a [[BodySurf Body Surfing]] SerialKiller. Melina [[NotSoStoic uncharacteristically]] ''[[NotSoStoic begs]]'' [[NotSoStoic you]] not to meet with its servants the Three Fingers the closer you draw to them. Even a nomad merchant, one of the very individuals who called it to the Lands Between to begin with, warns you away from the Frenzied Flaming Village.
** The Formless Mother's greatest servants are a cult of {{Serial Killer}}s led by a rapacious SatanicArchetype. Everyone who knows of them hates and fears them, and her by extension.
** The very moniker of "fell god" evokes dread and fear, and generations after the war against the giants has been long concluded, icons of the giants and their lord are used as universal symbols of terror.
** The lightning wielded by the Stoneguard ancient dragons, granted by their deity, was able to hurt the Erdtree. This horrified Marika's empire, to the point some Tree Sentinels become obsessed with becoming dragons to protect their Erdtree, and was a deciding factor in them going to war.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: Most of them act as the source of power for a corresponding school of Incantations used primarily by their followers as a means of strengthening their hold on the world. Yet they seem to care little about who wields their power and for what purposes: the Formless Mother, for instance, does nothing to stop you from using Blood Oath spells to slay Mohg despite his status as her greatest champion.
* EldritchAbomination: All of them. The Greater Will is never referred to as having a body and may, as it is called, be nothing ''but'' will; the Dark Moon lives in outer space and creates AlienKudzu and lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by ''existing''; the Scarlet Rot manifests as a living, sentient disease that corrupts everything it touches; the Frenzied Flame is an intangible force of fire that bestows both knowledge and madness upon its followers, and wishes to return the world to what is effectively primordial soup; the Formless Mother has no physical form, yet the incantation Bloodboon states that it works through carving your hand ''inside her body'' and splattering her blood -- which combusts into flames -- to your enemies; the fell god of the giants seemingly inhabited both the giants themselves as well as their forge, and may actually ''be'' fire in the form of a HiveMind.
* EmotionalPowers: Several of the outer gods are affiliated with emotions in some way:
** The Dark Moon has a heavy individualism theme, with many of those who communed with it such as Ranni, Azur, and Lusat all developing wildly different sorceries based on the creator's own mindset and outlook.
** The Scarlet Rot has some nebulous and unclear ties to its host's emotional state. Malenia is said to have needed to maintain her "pride", "will", and "sense of self" to stop it from breaking out, while Gowry states that Millicent would need to die in despair from [[EtTuBrute the Tarnished's betrayal]] for the Rot's power to bloom properly.
** The Frenzied Flame was implied to come into the world when the people of the Great Caravan despaired after [[BuriedAlive being sentenced to execution via mass burial]] for heresy. Its incantations can also literally kill people by driving them to madness.
* EvilIsBurningHot: As a god of life, fire is anathema to the Greater Will, and so fire is also associated with the most thoroughly (and indiscriminately) antagonistic Outer Gods. Whatever their quibbles with the Golden Order, few residents of the Lands Between are keen on entities that want to burn all life from their world.
* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twimbird God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
* EvilPowerVacuum: The destruction of the Elden Ring and the waning of the Greater Will's influence on the Lands Between seems to have left it wide open for intrusion by the Outer Gods. Otherwise it's a very bizarre coincidence that Malenia's Rot significantly worsening, Mohg getting into full contact with the Formless Mother and becoming Blood Lord, the Frenzied Flame infecting settlements in the heart of Altus, and the Dark Moon deciding to open the path to Nokron all just happened to coincide with the Shattering.
* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for God of the Twibird, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and God of the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* TheGhost: While their influence is certainly felt, none of these entities manifest in the Lands Between. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since as eldritch entities beyond space and time, they might not have a true form and any manifestation they do have can be considered [[FightingAShadow temporary vessels]]. Some of them do downplay this however:
** The Greater Will sent the Elden Beast along with the Elden Ring and has Two Fingers as its heralds. While the Elden Beast's exact role is unknown, each Empyrean chosen to bear the Elden Ring becomes a god as the Greater Will's extension of being or divine proxy. They as well as their consort Elden Lords are explicitly called champions of the Erdtree and the Greater Will, and are referred to as "gods in truth".
** An ancient god described as "Rot itself" was defeated and sealed away near the Lake of Rot at some point in the past. It's ambiguous if this god was a vassal like the Elden Beast, a proxy like Marika, or the outer god itself manifesting, but in any case the Scarlet Rot has marked Malenia as its latest proxy; if she "blooms" three times, she would become a true "goddess" -- a true extension of the Scarlet Rot. The Rot seems to still be a sentient force exerting itself even in this state, as it's capable of spawning fully-formed sapient beings (Kindred of Rot) who can act against its "hosts" (one is shown keeping Millicent prisoner), and Millicent states that Malenia needed "a will that was once her own" and "a sense of self" to resist the Rot.
** The Frenzied Flame also has a herald in the Three Fingers, and anyone powerful enough to harness its flame's true potential to be the Lord of Chaos becomes its proxy.
** An outer god is said to have sent the Twinbird as its envoy, who subsequently spawned the Deathbirds, an entire group of creatures capable of controlling and guiding the souls of the dead.
** The flames of Fire Giants are said to contain the "presence" of their fell god. In particular, the flame in the Forge of the Giants is shown to be inextinguishable even to Marika, so it might be a proxy or even the god's actual physical manifestation in Lands Between. The Fire Giant also manifests a face similar to ancient depictions of the fell god during its BossBattle.
* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the God of the Twimbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twimbird God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while God of the Twimbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While not the direct antagonists of the game, their CosmicChessGame and attempt to expand their influences are the cause of ''many'' troubling things the Tarnished has to deal with, from [[ZombieApocalypse Those Who Live in Death]] and alien beasts like Astel and the Crystalians to the threat of the Scarlet Rot and everything to do with the Frenzied Flame. The conflicts between followers of certain outer gods with Marika on behalf of Greater Will have literally shaped the pre-history and history of Lands Between. In many ways, the entire Shattering is nothing more than an elaborate proxy war fought between the outer gods for control of the Lands Between.
* JerkassGods: From a normal human being's perspective, none of the Outer Gods seem to have good plans for humanity: some seem neutral or indifferent, others are downright hostile to humanity or have malicious intent, or their way of spreading influence would completely transform and change humanity as we know it. Even the Greater Will, the one most widely viewed as conventionally "good", abandoned the Lands Between the moment the Shattering started, leaving humanity to the predations of rampaging demigods fighting for power.
* KryptoniteFactor: Unalloyed gold made by Miquella can stop their control on a person; when combined with a component that puts them "outside of time" (like Dragonlord Placidusax's chamber), Miquella's crafts can purge their influence entirely. Mirrorhelms from the eternal cities are designed to be this but only for the Greater Will.
* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the God of the Twimbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
* OurGodsAreGreater: Unlike Marika and her family who fit the typical "humans, but grander" mold of many classic pantheons from world myth, the outer gods are both far more powerful and far more unknowable, being impossibly powerful, cosmic entities from beyond the world. They have an almost Lovecraftian vibe to them.
* PhysicalGod: On 2 different levels:
** The outer gods exist on such a vast scale of existence to the point their envoys and chosen ones themselves are considered divinities. The Two Fingers are worshipped [[OurAngelsAreDifferent almost like angels]] while Empyreans chosen by them to bear the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Elden Beast are all deemed as gods. Malenia, who was blessed with the Rot to become its champion, is effectively the larval form of a goddess and worshipped as such by the Order of Rot. All of these imply the only reason the envoys and champions of outer gods aren't named gods in the game is because the Golden Order faith deems them as alien, heretical beings.
** A number of outer gods have ''direct'' manifestations which ''can'' be physically interacted with and even killed. This is most obvious for the Formless Mother, whose school of magic involves its followers stabbing its veins and spilling its cursed blood through reality itself. The Scorpion's Stinger also states that the Outer God of Rot has a body, which is currently sealed under the Lake of Rot - the weapon itself is a relic of the god (i.e., a body part). The One-Eyed Shield is also said to be a depiction of "the malformed fell god" of the Fire Giants (i.e. it had a form), which along with Marika being said to have slain it on the same item description, indicates it had a body too.
* RealityWarper:
** All known outer gods can alter fate or causality to their will, and their physical manifestations can twist the laws of physics passively or actively: the Glintstones are the basis of Sorcery, and outer gods often exert their presence or essence as different schools of Incantations. Given the Dark Moon can share its guidance even to dwellers of Eternal Cities (which are trapped underground and thus unable to see the stars), and the Formless Mother's followers can reach its formless veins ''anywhere in the world'', it's clear even ''space and time'' don't restrict their influence either. However, they do seem to have limits:
** While they can freely influence any entity of their choosing (regardless of race, even the likes of giants and dragons), they need to ''notice'' their targets first in some way. At least a few outer gods extended their influence into the Lands Between because they were contacted by natives (Dark Moon, Formless Mother), while at least one came to Lands Between because certain elements attracted it (Frenzied Flame).
** They cannot freely affect those who are already under the influence of an outer god; they require a more direct means of intervention to subvert this hold[[note]]the Greater Will needs its herald the Two Fingers to affect Ranni and bind her to be an Empyrean, and the Frenzied Flame needs the Three Fingers to bless a Tarnished guided by Grace to turn them into a potential Lord of Chaos; the Scarlet Rot might ''look'' like an exception to this as it blessed Malenia in the womb, but the circumstances of her birth might have made her unprotected by Golden Order and Erdtree's Grace due to being born from a single god, which is noted to be a flaw in the Golden Order[[/note]].
** Finally, powers born of outer gods can counteract other outer gods. Mirrorhelms, connected to the Eternal Cities and the Carians, are born from the Dark Moon and expressly shield the wearer from the Greater Will. The unalloyed gold researched by Miquella can suppress the Scarlet Rot in one of its bearers, and can also be used to purge the Frenzied Flame from a recalcitrant Lord of Chaos. The flame of the fell god, empowered by Melina's sacrifice, can burn the Erdtree and allow the Tarnished to seek its interior. Radahn proves it is also possible to turn the powers of an Outer God against itself to ward off their influence, as he wielded the gravity powers learned from star spawn to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard slay them]].
* ReligionOfEvil: Many of them have formed these:
** The Scarlet Rot is worshipped by the Order of Rot, consisting of the monstrous Kindred of Rot. Their duty is to spread the Rot as much as they can, forcibly transforming others into more kindred in the process, and also to convince Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and ascend as an avatar of the Scarlet Rot. To that end they've abducted the reluctant Millicent and kept her prisoner. They also attempt to manipulate the Tarnished into betraying Millicent so that her despair causes her to "bloom".
** The Frenzied Flame has its own counterpart to the Two Fingers, the Three Fingers, complete with Finger Maidens who are granted both insight and madness by being fed the diseased eyeballs of its adherents. The entire faith seems to be led by Shabriri, a reviled historical figure who can BodySurf thanks to the Frenzied Flame and uses this ability to spread chaos through the world.
** The Bloody Fingers are the most overt, being a religious cult of assassins based in a fortified underground cathedral led by the local SatanicArchetype.
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the God of The Twimbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
** The Fire Monks were set to guard the fell god of the giants, but have grown to worship it instead, and have taken advantage of the Shattering to set up militant forts and encampments throughout the Lands Between.
** The dragon cult seeks to "worship" dragons by hunting them and devouring their hearts in an act of Dragon Communion. The result of this is that practitioners begin to grotesquely mutate into Magma Wyrms, bloated monsters that are a hideous reflection of the dragons they worship. Note that the dragons themselves strongly object to the killing of their fellows; Ekzykes, even after being infected by the Scarlet Rot, never forgot his hatred and drive for revenge against Dragon Communers.
* UnreliableNarrator: Most of what we hear about them is filtered either through the mindset of followers of the Greater Will, who will naturally denigrate other gods to make their own look good, or from their own followers, in which the reverse is true. The only other information to go on is buried scraps of history and fables and fairy tales, some of which are contradictory, and necessitates taking all information about the outer gods with a very large grain of salt.
* TheUnreveal: The fell god receives less insight into its personality and motives, as its influence waned in ages past when their followers were either wiped out (Fire Giants, some trolls) or defected to the Greater Will (most trolls).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
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Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\
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The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\
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Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between with all elements of its presence in the world appearing accidental and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. The threats of their stars -- namely the spread of glintstone as AlienKudzu and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry -- appear to be accidental, and tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of glintstones. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those]] [[CrapsackWorld entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly]] wide [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] of [[StarfishAliens forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
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In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
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Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
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Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
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* AchillesHeel:
** Fire, at least for creatures infected by the Rot itself. Virtually every creature in Caelid and the Lake of Rot are weak to flame, and fire is what Radahn's army uses to contain and purge the creatures infested by the Rot.
** Clean, flowing water acts an antithesis to the Rot. The god itself was supposedly imprisoned beneath the Lake of Rot by the actions of a mysterious swordsman who was aided by a water fairy, and the same swordsman was implied to be the one who trained Malenia in how to use her sword. The Rot has thematic connections to ''kegare'', a Shinto belief in spiritual corruption and decay, which is also countered in Shinto by flowing water.
* AndIMustScream: Creatures infected by Scarlet Rot who don't perish or begin mutating usually start fusing with the rot-infected ground. As shown by Greyoll, they don't have to be dead for this to happen. The mother of dragons is fused to the earth of her own barrow, unable to move or defend herself in any way, yet is still alive as she slowly rots to death.
* AnimalMotifs: Arthropods, fitting for a god of decay. The God of Rot itself is a giant scarlet scorpion according to the Scorpion's Stinger item description, the Kindred of Rot resemble humanoid centipedes that can also shoot out web-like projectiles (Pest Threads), and the "bloomings" of the Rot's vessels (like potentially Malenia and Millicent) are accompanied by Aeonian Butterflies.
* TheAssimilator: Dying from the Scarlet Rot seems to cause the being to be completely consumed by it, turning into strange, fungal ''things'' that can [[BodyHorror still bleed]]. Some dragon corpses, as well as the still-alive Greyoll, can be seen with their massive bodies partially consumed by the Scarlet Rot covered ground.
* BodyHorror: Victims afflicted with the long-term version of Scarlet Rot (as opposed to the short-duration infection that kills you in seconds, but can be dispelled with boluses) wander about in misery with giant poison mushrooms growing out of their heads. The bulbous, fungal growths throughout Caelid were once living things, and they still bleed if you hit them with a weapon. Even Malenia, the Rot's champion, has her body slowly decaying from the inside out, with three of her four limbs being prosthetic, her eyes eaten away to the point of blindness, and much of her skin being diseased and rotten.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: The Scarlet Rot is heavily associated with flowers and butterflies to the point where butterflies ''made'' of Rot are a sign that Malenia has embraced the Rot's power. Adherents of the Order of Rot believe that being infected and transformed by the Scarlet Rot is a beautiful rebirth, with the alien glory of Malenia's Goddess of Rot phase in her boss fight making it clear that they're not entirely wrong (just mostly).
* TheCorruption: Many of the outer gods are guilty of this to some degree, but the Scarlet Rot is the most obvious about it. The Scarlet Rot corrupts the very land, causing everything including the sky above to turn into a sickly blood-red and causes most beings, including ancient and powerful things like dragons, to slowly lose their sanity and their body, which begins rotting to seemingly fuse with the land itself, [[AndIMustScream sometimes while the creature is still alive]]. Certain entities and people will instead mutate into creatures of rot, and the rot itself produces a number of unnatural lifeforms who only exist to cause more rot.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossing this allows the Scarlet Rot more leeway to possess its victims and transform them. Malenia's ability to resist it is tied in with her emotional state, and betraying Millicent at the eleventh hour of her quest causes her to fall into anguish and bloom into a rot flower. The Rot seems to be actively trying to push its hosts past this point (consciously or not) given that Millicent mentions it causes nightmares on top of the regular physical pain.
%%* Expy: Of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Nurgle, the Chaos God of nihilism and disease]]. Like Nurgle, this Outer God is a god of disease, and its Scarlet rot can infect not only the body but also the mind and soul, as General Radahn can attest to. It's also powerful enough to ''[[RealityWarper affect reality itself]]'', tinting the beings and lands alike with its colour. Worshipers of the Scarlet Rot preach it as the embodiment of the cycle of Death and Rebirth, and its infection gains grown when its victims [[DespairEventHorizon fall into despair]]. Malenia is the unwillingly chosen Champion of the Scarlet Rot and she has insect-like wings, much like how Primarch Mortarion, Nurgle's unwillingly chosen, gained insect wings following his transformation into a Daemon Prince.
* FantasticNuke: More like a fantastic ''bioweapon''. Malenia's unleashing of the Rot against Radahn left devestation on the level of a [=WMD=] in its wake, with the effects having spread from their battleground and layed waste to all of Caelid.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Denied by the Rot itself as well as its adherents and worshippers, but fully played straight in the minds of everyone and everything else [[note]]potentially excepting, weirdly enough, none other than the Greater Will[[/note]]. Being infected by Scarlet Rot means, at ''best'', a slow wasting death that reduces you to a haggard shell of your former self and eats your mind until you are at a borderline feral state, with not even demigods being immune. At worst, it means becoming a bulbous, grotesque mass of fungus-like flesh growing into the blighted countryside while ''still conscious'', or even being twisted and "reborn" into something else entirely--a creature devoted to Rot whose only purpose is to spread more Rot. Any potential cure for the Rot is also not known to the population at large; the only commonly known method to prevent it is to KillItWithFire before it can spread.
* FesteringFungus: The Scarlet Rot is heavily affiliated with fungus, with the fungal-like growths across the surface of Caelid and some of the infectees having their heads replaced by giant mushrooms. Interestingly, the way the fungi are arranged and grow alongside other flora resembles a coral reef (albiet a twisted, horrifying version of one).
* FlowerMotifs: The Scarlet Rot is strongly associated with flowers, [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterflies, and the cycle of decay and birth]]. While Scarlet Rot typically kills most things infected ([[DeaderThanDead physically and mentally]]), certain compatible individuals will instead mutate into a creature of rot, a process described as "blooming". Malenia is also accompanied with what appears to be rotten butterflies when she lets her Scarlet Rot "bloom" unleashed, and her ultimate rot incantation, the Scarlet Aeonia, creates an eerily beautiful flower-shaped explosion of infectious mist.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Zigzagged.
** Judging from the fact the only means to alleviate Scarlet Rot build up or cure the status in the game are 4 specific consumables and spells: Preserving Bolus [[note]]which requires rare materials, including one, the Sacramental Bud, that doesn't respawn and can only be farmed as a rare drop from land octopi and dogs in the Writheblood Ruins[[/note]], Speckled Hardtear [[note]]A crystal tear formed in places where Erdtree's droplets fall for long periods of time[[/note]], Flame Cleanse Me spell [[note]]An Incantation invented by the Fire Monks who had turned against Golden Order by worshipping the Flame of the Fell God they were supposed to guard, which burns the body with flames to cure ailments[[/note]] and Law of Regression spell [[note]]one of the most advanced Incantations in Golden Order Fundamentalism, which devotees like Goldmask isn't even able to cast due to being based on Intelligence[[/note]]. The recipes of said consumables are generally ''nowhere'' near any area where the Scarlet Rot runs rampant, while the spells are either heretical to be learned (Flame Cleanse Me) or too ''advanced'' for average practitioners (Law of Regression), meaning it is possible the Scarlet Rot isn't so much incurable as much as the means to cure it being effectively unavailable to most victims who catch it.
** However, the Scarlet Rot can definitively kill the consciousness of immortal beings like demigods and dragons, even infecting Erdtree avatars. As such, the fact gameplay Scarlet Rot can be expunged by simply resting at a site of grace, and that the player's Tarnished respawns as normal after dying to it both mean this trope still applies.
** While unstated, we have pretty clear signs that there are just two kinds of Scarlet Rot infection: acute (HP drops very quickly, will eventually go away if you don't die, the patient functions more or less normally while it's active until they drop dead, can be cured with a bolus or spell) and chronic (slowly rot away over the course of years, excruciating and debilitating pain and reduced level of consciousness and memory, seemingly-incurable). Malenia, Millicent, Radahn, and a bunch of random enemies have the latter, while the former is what can be inflicted in-game with Rot spells and "cured" with the aforementioned methods. The in-game Scarlet Rot status effect rapidly drains health and can kill anything (the damage is percentage-based) without the intervention of magic,[[note]]16.2% Max HP + 1350 damage per proc over 90 seconds for weapon greases and rot pots. 29.7% Max HP + 1170 damage over 90 seconds some of your spells. ''990%'' Max HP + 7,800 damage per proc over 300 seconds for Malenia's uniquely potent version.[[/note]] but it only retains that form for some one to several minutes, after which it will cease to have an effect (you could simply survive it by out-healing the damage, for example). Meanwhile multiple in-universe characters are dealing with long-term infections that don't kill anywhere near as rapidly but are much more difficult to remove. Backing this is the fact that you ''can'' inflict the acute version on characters who are already dying of the chronic version, and the result is a very clear visual difference on their models, usually followed by them dying in seconds (this is especially easy to do on Radahn, who [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration at this point]] has extremely low Rot resistance to the point 1 Rot Pot will proc the status).
* GodzillaThreshold: Radahn's soldiers have largely abandoned the Shattering, instead devoting everything they have to prevent the Rot from spreading beyond Caelid, even as it strains their resources and leaves them vulnerable to other armies.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While mostly unrelated to the main plotline other than being another source of dangerous monsters the Tarnished has to face, it is firmly the fundamental cause of Miquella and Malenia's subplot alongside the more direct Mohg, as it choosing Malenia as its new avatar caused the demigod woman great pain all her life, and drove Miquella's motivations to find a definitive way to ward off the influence of Outer Gods. After Miquella is kidnapped by Mohg and Malenia loses her dignity in the fight against Radahn, the Scarlet Rot is free to ravage Caelid and the Haligtree to apocalyptic results and turn them into breeding grounds for rot-born creatures.
* HostileTerraforming: As an alien god that seeks to reshape the entire world in its own bizarre and inhospitable image, the Rot is Elden Ring's poster-entity for this trope. Caelid, the site of the great Scarlet Rot outbreak of the Shattering, almost looks like another planet, complete with an [[AlienSky ominous red sky]].
* LeakingCanOfEvil: The Rot is sealed inside the Lake of Rot, but is still very much capable of interacting with the world at large, from corrupting Malenia in the womb to creating small pockets of Rot throughout the Lands Between.
* LossOfIdentity: One of the most feared aspects of the Scarlet Rot is that it doesn't just kill you, it erases your very sense of self. Radahn, once a proud and honorable general, has been reduced to a guttural, feral monster eating the corpses of friend and foe alike. Millicent ultimately decides she would rather [[DyingAsYourself die with her memories and ego intact]] than let the Rot take her and erase her sense of being.
* LostInTranslation: It's essentially the god of ''kegare'', a Shinto concept of spiritual uncleanliness that doesn't really have a Western equivalent, broadly translated as defilement, impurity or corruption, though not necessarily moral, and in fact sources of kegare can be fully natural like (as seen in the Scarlet Rot) disease and corpses. Several item descriptions (such as soap) give short explanations of kegare, but you'll still have to be somewhat familiar with Shinto to get the connection between things like still water and centipedes that are associated with the Rot, and why flowing water opposes it.
* MysticalPlague: The Scarlet Rot is both the most feared disease in the history of the Lands Between and also the manifestation of a partially-sealed outer god. It's even capable of infecting wholly inorganic beings, such as Crystalians, or ''metaphysical concepts without tangible form'' like the Great Runes. Going by gameplay, the only things immune to it are lifeless constructs that never had organic material to rot nor a mind to lose (golems, Edtree Burial Watchdogs, etc.- Crystalians don't count because they are sentient beings), illusions, projections, and other such things that aren't really there (Margit, Golden Shade Godfrey, Mohg the Omen), or beings that are completely divine and thus out of the Rot's purview (Radagon & Elden Beast).
* NonIndicativeName: Despite repeatedly being described with {{Flower Motif}}s, the Rot has far more in common with fungi then any sort of flora. This appears to be a reference to real world botanical history, as mushrooms were originally categorized as a type of flower before science advanced enough to recognise the differences.
* NothingIsScarier: We know the "god that was Rot itself" has [[PhysicalGod a physical form]], and we know it's buried beneath or nearby the Lake of Rot but that is it. We don't know what it looks like other than the fact it is possibly a scorpion, how long it's been there and if it has any chance of escaping. We're not even entirely sure what it is, considering the sealed away presence could be anything from a vassal of the outer god similar to the Elden Beast (considered a god in its own right), a previously chosen champion acting as a proxy much like Malenia (who gets called "Goddess of Rot" in her second phase), or even the outer god itself.
* PhysicalGod: The Scorpion's Stinger weapon confirms whatever divine presence is currently sealed beneath the Lake of Rot is a physical being, quite possibly a giant scarlet scorpion if the description is anything to go by [[note]]it's "a ceremonial tool used by heretics, crafted from the relic of a sealed outer god"; 'relic' in religious contexts indicates a body part of a holy being[[/note]], while the description of the Lake of Rot map says "the divine essence of an outer god is sealed away in this land." The Blue Dancer Charm also states a blind swordmaster had defeated this god ages ago, but was only able to seal it away, rather than kill it. However, as described in NothingIsScarier above, the true nature of this ancient god remains unclear.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Blue Dancer Charm talisman describes a legend in which a fairy bestowed a sword to a [[HeroOfAnotherStory blind swordsman]], who defeated and sealed way an ancient god of Rot itself. The location of where it was sealed is not known, though it's likely near the Lake of Rot. However, [[LeakingCanOfEvil the Scarlet Rot can still bless Malenia to become its proxy and spread the rot.]]
* ShoutOut: With Gowry's quest being a WholePlotReference to the poem ''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/19/Edward_gorey_insect_god_by_insectgod-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190610003409 Insect God]]'' by Edward Gorey (note that "Gowry" and "Gorey" are spelled the same in Japanese), the Rot's Kindred resembling giant arthropods and its physical form under the Lake of Rot resembling a tailed insectoid (going by the Scorpion's Stinger) is probably also meant as a reference to it.
* UndergroundMonkey: Many minibosses throughout Caelid are familiar enemies reskinned and recolored to reflect their corruption by Scarlet Rot; usually they gain the ability to spread Rot as an attack while gaining a weakness to fire. These creatures usually have the appellation "Putrid" by their name. Notably, even the servants of fellow outer gods aren't immune; Putrid Erdtree Avatars, which serve the Greater Will, exist, and there are a trio of Putrid Crystalians, alien life-forms affiliated with the Dark Moon.
* WeakToFire: The Rot's biggest weakness is that its very, ''very'' weak to fire. Radahn's Lordsworn have put this to good use, wielding torches and flaming weapons, using walls of smoldering stone to stave off the Rot's spread, and even burning an entire ''church'' at the entrance to Limgrave to prevent the Rot from spreading there. They also make use of the Fire Monks' Flame Chariots.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Frenzied Flame]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Flames of Chaos, Yelough
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lord_of_chaos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lord of Chaos, [[TheAntichrist avatar of cleansing]].]]
The migrants of the Great Caravan were never loved by the inhabitants of the Lands Between. Suspicious and hateful of the outsiders, the denizens of the land eventually turned on them ''en masse'', with accusations of wickedness and heresy. Falling upon the Great Caravan, the denizens of the Lands Between destroyed their home and massacred them, culminating in a terrible act of cruelty: thousands of nomads were executed by being BuriedAlive. The few survivors were scattered to the winds. Broken, consumed by despair and hatred, the survivors [[ThenLetMeBeEvil decided to embrace the moniker of heresy they could not escape]]. They called out for something, ''anything,'' to unleash destruction upon the Lands Between in retribution, consequences be damned...\\
\\
...[[GoneHorriblyRight and the Frenzied Flame answered them.]]\\
\\
An outer god associated with madness, knowledge, chaos, eyes, retribution, and the color yellow, the Frenzied Flame forgoes the usual machinations of other outer gods. It does not seek to form cults or establish dominion, though a few worshippers have nevertheless embraced it, pockets of violent madness standing out in an already violent world. The Frenzied Flame's foremost agent to spread its knowledge is Shabriri, the most reviled man in history, who blasphemed against the Golden Order and preached chaos and retribution. Though Shabriri was killed, the Frenzied Flame didn't let him die; he remains, able to BodySurf between corpses by dint of the Flame's power. More dangerous than Shabriri is the Three Fingers -- eerie counterparts to the Greater Will's Two Fingers -- manifested to serve a similar role to the Two Fingers; seek someone with the potential to inherit the will and power of the Flame to become the Lord of Chaos, as a true expression of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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Modern adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, yet they boast an impossible well of knowledge and are occasionally possessed of a disturbingly serene lucidity. One, Hyetta of Liurnia, is being groomed by the followers of the Flame to become a Finger Maiden to the Three Fingers. Hyetta claims that the Frenzied Flame despises the Greater Will for fragmenting an ancient source of life, the "One Great," to create the lesser forms of life -- from humans to animals to plants -- that populate the Lands Between. The Frenzied Flame would see the One Great restored, a wish that necessitates the eradication of all forms of life and the scorching of the entire world by the fires of the Frenzied Flame.\\
\\
So feared and reviled is the Frenzied Flame and its goal of universal destruction that all who have been uncorrupted by its influence oppose it. Its mortal adherents remained isolated, despised, and shunned, and the Three Fingers were imprisoned in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the Royal Capital, sealed by followers of the Greater Will. Still, the Three Fingers remain there even now, waiting for the one who would free them and become Lord of Chaos.\\
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Should the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] embrace the Three Fingers and become the Lord of Chaos, the Golden Order is supplanted entirely and the Frenzied Flame achieves its goal of bringing its purifying flames to all life that exists, culminating in the '''Lord of Frenzied Flame''' ending.
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* AmbiguousSituation: Its name may or may not be Yelough, which would make it the only Outer God with a name, but it's never given an explicit confirmation. Yelough only appears three times in the whole game, once as the "Eyes of Yelough" plant that appears in locations affected by the Flame of Frenzy, another time in the Yelough Anix Ruins, which has Frenzied Flame worshippers in it, and the nearby Yelough Anix Tunnels, which has nothing to do with the Frenzied Flame in either its design, enemies or boss (who is instead an Astel).
* TheAntiGod: The Frenzied Flame is the closest equivalent to an Anti-Greater Will. Whereas the Greater Will encompasses life, immortality, vegetation and order, the Frenzied Flame represents the end of life, destruction, flame, and chaos, and both employ their own 'Fingers' to choose a vessel to use as a pawn in their schemes. Out of all the Outer Gods at least presently active, the Frenzied Flame and the Greater Will have the most directly antagonistic relation.
* AssimilationPlot: Its most likely end goal. Shabriri and the Frenzied Spirit talk about "incinerat[ing] all that divides and distinguishes" and if Hyetta is given the words of the Three Fingers, she explains that as the Frenzied Flame sees it, all life was once the "One Great" who the Greater Will divided up to make life and souls as humans know them. The Frenzied Flame thinks that this was a mistake that led only to suffering, so it seeks to melt everything back into its original form as the One Great.
* TheBadGuyWins: If the Tarnished inherits the Frenzied Flame, they'll become the Lord of Chaos who will burn the Elden Ring, the Erdtree and likely all life, which -- whatever [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the motives]] might be -- is what the Three Fingers and its master want achieved.
* BodyMotifs: Eyes. The Frenzied Flame inflicts EyeScream on its adherents, but even as they lose their sight, they are filled with knowledge beyond mortal ken -- suggesting that they must lose their sight of the tangible world to gain true knowledge.
* BodyHorror: The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with eyes -- or rather, the lack of eyes. Humans and animals touched by it have their eyes burned out, jets of yellow fire emerging from the empty sockets in their place, and the swollen, pus-filled eyeballs are fed to adherents as "grapes".
* BrownNote: An unusual example; the Fingerprint Stone Shield is heavily implied to be branded by the Three Fingers with its fingerprints, serving as "messages". Getting bashed by this shield causes Madness build up, suggesting the mere act of ''touching'' the fingerprints causes Frenzy to spread onto you.
* ChaosIsEvil: "Evil" might be stretching it for a formless, alien deity, but its goals would certainly result in the death of all living things and its followers are threatening and sinister. The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with chaos, to the point of occasionally being ''known'' as the Flame of Chaos, and Shabriri desires for chaos to take the world. Interestingly, the Frenzied Flame's desire to return life to its primordial state of the One Great gives it some affiliation with the original definition of chaos as well as the modern version.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Even more so than any of the other Outer Gods, openly speading madness, destruction, and corruption.
* TheCorruption: The Frenzied Flame, while less extensively spread than the Scarlet Rot, causes the animals and people that it touches to go insane and infused with the flame itself, and causes unnatural fruits and vegetation like the Eyes of Yelough to grow.
* CrazySane: Adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, sometimes violently so, but also gain tremendous insight and wisdom of ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow.
* DespairEventHorizon: The Frenzied Flame seems drawn to people who cross it and begin to curse the world. The Great Caravan is the most notable example, but Castellan Edgar's questline ends with him infected by it as well, after his desire to avenge his beloved daughter degrades into murdering random travelers. Frenzied Flame incantations are also used by certain Leyndell soldiers on Mt. Gelmir, where the most horrific battle of the Shattering was (and sort of still is being) fought.
* EarnYourBadEnding: The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending is treated as a proper BadEnding, with Melina abandoning the Tarnished and all life [[WorldWreckingWave being scorched by the Frenzied Flame.]] It's also eminently avoidable: the game piles hint upon hint that the Frenzied Flame is bad news, only growing more obvious the closer the player gets to the Three Fingers, culminating in an [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically passionate]] plea from Melina to not pursue this action. Even if the player embraces the Three Fingers, they can purge the Frenzied Flame using Miquella's Needle, meaning that if the ending is achieved, it is certifiably the player's fault.
* {{Expy}}: Of Hastur as the King in Yellow, specifically his depiction in later ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' RPG sourcebooks: a yellow-colored force of entropy from the cosmos who spreads madness to his cult of followers, is empowered by negative human emotion, and takes various avatars to increase its power in the land. The [[https://i.imgur.com/LK67V7q.png Frenzy sigil even looks like the Yellow Sign.]] Note that Hidetaka Miyazaki is a self-admitted fan of ''Call of Cthulhu'', has cited nondescript tabletop [=RPGs=] as one of his main inspirations for ''Elden Ring'', and that one of the locations hosting Frenzy in-game is called the Yelough Anix Ruins.[[note]]Yelough is obviously an alternate spelling of yellow, while "anax" means king in Greek. Yellow King Ruins.[[/note]]
* EvilIsBurningHot: A deity of omnicidal mania that primarily manifests as mind-destroying yellow fire.
* EyeBeams: Most Frenzied Flame incantations involve blasting gouts of flame from your eyes.
* EyeScream: The first symptom of the Frenzied Flame taking hold (aside from murderous insanity), is the eyes growing diseased, swollen, and yellow. Either the eyes fall out intact (or get clawed out by their owners) and become Shabriri Grapes, or just straight up ''burst'' and become Yellow Embers, with the afflicted getting FireballEyeballs in their place. Hyetta eats Shabriri Grapes to feel the 'distant light' (i.e. the Three Fingers), and once she does find it and receives the Three Fingers' wisdom, she says that her eyes are ''melting''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Uniquely the only Outer God that doesn't appear to want one of [[TheChosenOne the Empyreans]] as its vassal, being seemingly content with any host strong enough to not completely lose their mind upon being touched by the flame.
* GoneHorriblyRight: The Frenzied Flame was awakened by the survivors of the Great Caravan. While some of the wandering merchants descended from the Caravan do seem to be adherents and will even use Frenzy abilities if aggroed, others seem to fear the Frenzied Flame just as much as anyone else, with one nomad in Liurnia outright warning the player from approaching the Frenzied Flaming Village to the northeast. It seems these nomads realized something that would kill all life would include ''them'' in the "all life" category.
* LightIsNotGood: The Frenzied Flame, as expected of a god of fire, is heavily associated with light. It's yellow flames can be seen lighting the darkness, and Hyetta refers to a "light behind her eyes" as she is slowly corrupted into serving as its Finger Maiden. Its association with knowledge also fits the trope per the familiar concept of the "light of knowledge". Yet the Frenzied Flame is an OmnicidalManiac which wishes to put all living things to the torch.
* MysticalPlague: The Frenzied Flame is contagious, though to a lesser extent than the Scarlet Rot. The whole point of its various incantations is to spread it to others. In gameplay this just kills them, but whole villages overtaken by the Frenzied Flame can be encountered while traveling, guarded by soldiers with a yellow flame painted on their shields to warn people away from them.
* NothingIsScarier: Like the Scarlet Rot, despite the spread of Frenzy and its madness in certain regions of the Lands Between and how universally reviled its influence is, remarkably little is known about its origin. While it supposedly first appeared to the Great Caravan, there are certain hints such as the existence of Cathedral of the Forsaken suggesting the Frenzy "sprouted" forth from the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers, who served an ancient god supposedly buried in the sacred tomb of frenzy acolytes. Like with Scarlet Rot, it is never made clear what this god is supposed to be -- possibilities include a previous Lord of Chaos or a vassal higher ranked than the Three Fingers, who is never referred to as a god even by frenzy adherents -- or if it is even ''dead''.
* NotQuiteDead: The Cathedral of the Forsaken is heavily implied to be a tomb housing an ancient god who originated the seeds from which Frenzied Flame sprouted forth. But given the Frenzy influnce is very much present and active in the Lands Between ever since the Great Caravan awakened it, this raises serious doubts if the deity is truly dead.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Frenzied Flame plays with this trope. Its flames only exist to [[TheCorruption corrupt all life and the land with Frenzy]], with Shabriri claiming its purpose is [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos to the world]]. However, while its objective certainly involves killing all life, Hyetta claims it actually desires [[AssimilationPlot to melt them all back to their primordial form]], a being who is called "One Great". Thus, while the Frenzied Flame's influence is omnicidal, it isn't necessarily because it wants life itself gone -- simply restored to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality what it considers proper]]. Of course, for all things currently living, the difference is mainly academic.
* PhysicalGod: Apart from the many forms of TheCorruption which Frenzied Flame can cause, the Outer God who originated Frenzy appears to have had a physical manifestation at some point in ancient history, as the Fingerprint Stone Shield found in the Cathedral of the Forsaken explicitly mentions it was part of the tomb of an ancient god. As NothingIsScarier above has explained, the nature of this god is more or less RiddleForTheAges.
* PowerBornOfMadness: As noted, the Frenzied Flame is strongly associated with frenzy, madness, and [[CrazySane insight through insanity]]. The Great Caravan merchants were blessed with the maddening flame when their minds fractured from crossing the DespairEventHorizon, Maidens of the Three Fingers are trained to develop clarity through madness, and incantations of Frenzied Flames involve producing fire through the eyes -- or to be more precise, ''the mind'' -- so much so that a fully realized Lord of Chaos has their heads burn away into a ''sentient ball of flame'', implying their mind is ''literally'' burning with Frenzy.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: While the Flame itself (allegedly) just wants to burn the world back to its primordial state, the people who wield it have usually crossed the DespairEventHorizon and just want to burn the world. This would have been most pronounced in Kalé's cut questline, in which his discovery of the massacre of the Great Caravan led him to beg the player to use the Frenzied Flame they called up to destroy everything, after trying and failing to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil do so himself]] (he reached the Three Fingers but they didn't accept him as a Lord). Hyetta also claims that all of the people who gave her "grapes" felt such despair as to wish they were never born.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: According to Hyetta, the Frenzied Flame believes the Greater Will was mistaken in creating individuality, life and souls in the Lands Between by dividing the One Great, and that it was this action which brought about all suffering, afflictions and curses. Their primary goal is to struggle against the Greater Will and its forces and undo this mistake by [[AssimilationPlot melting everything in the world back as one]].
* RecurringElement: Like the Dark Soul and its followers, most notably Kaathe, in the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, the Frenzied Flame is the antithetical power of the TopGod of the setting (Gwyn and the First Flame in Dark Souls, Marika and the Greater Will in this game) that promises a great change to the world order and to elevate the PlayerCharacter into the lord of the new age - ''un''like the Dark Soul, which was ambiguous in its danger at best, the game doesn't hide that the Frenzied Flame is a purely negative entity and its path is a case of EarnYourBadEnding.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Despite item descriptions saying that it only affects humans, there are also frenzied ''rats'' encountered in and around the Ailing Village and Frenzied Flame Village. Presumably this is because they ate the corpses of frenzied humans (i.e. the same reason rats drop Humanity in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls1'').
* StrawNihilist: Not the Outer God itself, who at least seems to be following a 'higher' purpose in its mass genocide, but its worshippers and servants definetly count. None of them other than Hyetta seem to care about the Frenzied Flame's AssimilationPlot, and are more in it to cause chaos to ravage the world and kill everyone due to a mix of despair-caused madness and nihilism.
* ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: This is the Flame's specialty. The more thoroughly its followers are touched by its madness, the more impossible insight they gain -- culminating in Shabriri bellowing that chaos should take the world and Hyetta asserting that all life is a mistake that needs to be corrected.
* UndergroundMonkey: Several types of enemies have variants that are afflicted with the Frenzied Flame and attack with Frenzied Flame incantations. These include the Cuckoo troops at the Frenzied Flame village and some of the Leyendell Soldiers at Mt. Gelmir.
* UnusualEuphemism: The swollen, chaos-filled eyeballs that its adherents feed to would-be Finger Maidens are euphemistically referred to as "grapes," seemingly because the Eye of Yelough, a corrupted plant touched by the Frenzied Flame, grows grape-like fruits that look similar to human eyes. Hyetta, at least, had no clue what she was actually eating until told by the PlayerCharacter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Formless Mother]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth, The Blood Star
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_mohgwyn_palace_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mohgwyn Palace, lair of her slaves]]
Mohg was one of the children of Marika and Godfrey. Born an Omen, he was hated and despised, sent in shackles to the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital alongside his brother, Morgott. While both brothers eventually escaped the Shunning-Grounds and rejoined society at large, Mohg was not so fast to reconcile as his brother. Going into hiding, Mohg saw the Shattering as an opportunity to seize power and gain dominion over the Lands Between. To do that, he would need the influence of an outer god to challenge the Greater Will -- and so he called upon the Formless Mother.\\
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One of the newer gods to arrive to influence the Lands Between, the Formless Mother, also known as the Mother of Truth, is heavily tied to Mohg and his ambitions. The Mother is, as she is described, a shapeless god without form; she is associated heavily with blood, pain, wounds, murder, violence, and an extremely twisted form of love and affection. Craving agony of her own, the Mother grants power to adherents who injure her; her burning blood emerges from injuries to manifest in the mortal realm, scalding those who earn her followers' ire. Every incantation of the followers of blood is in fact a ritualistic injury inflicted upon their insatiable god. Mohg, the Mother's earthly champion, has been granted burning blood of his own, a "gift" the Formless Mother has also bestowed on his twin brother Morgott -- whether he wants it or not.\\
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Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between.
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* AmbiguousGender: The Formless Mother is the only outer god referred to with gendered pronouns or titles, including in item and incantation descriptions. Still, it's up in the air whether a formless deity that exists outside of space can even ''have'' a gender in the human understanding of the term, and Mohg may simply be projecting onto her.
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** She's implied to have some relation to Omens and their 'accursed blood', but it's not known how much. She chose an Omen as her prime apostle, and Mohg is described to have had his accursed blood set on fire when he encountered her, and the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear describes her as an "outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood." Notably, Morgott's cursed sword also has an effect similiar to Bloodflame, which is an odd standout on his otherwise holy-themed arsenal. It's not known if she's just, in an Outer God's twisted way, sympathetic to the Omens, if she finds their cursed blood just a convenient way to exert her influence, or if she's somehow the ''origin'' of said cursed blood.
** Some members of the Fire Monks wield a type of magic called Thorn Sorcery that summons blood-red barbs and briars from their self-inflicted wounds, the similar motifs (as well as the art's focus on [[CombatSadomasochist self-inflicted suffering]]) strongly imply the "Blood Star" that taught these monks in their dreams is actually the Mother.
* ArcVillain: As she's responsible for bestowing Mohg her power and his dream of reshaping Miquella as his consort. This makes her a [[GreaterScopeVillain greater scope variant]] for Miquella and Malenia's story since as an Outer God she's never dealt with directly. [[OutOfFocus She doesn't have much relevance to Elden Ring's story otherwise.]]
* BadBoss: Potentially to Mohg. He seems to view himself as an ascendant BigBad with the favor of an obedient patron deity, but ''any'' denizen of the Lands Between is at risk of misinterpreting [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the whims of an outer god.]] It's worth noting that Mohg's belief that his patron would resurrect Miquella led to Miquella's death, thus depriving the Greater Will one of its Empyreans, and despite all the HumanSacrifice, Miquella ''still'' hasn't come back.
* BloodMagic: The source of the Blood Oath school of Incantations, which consists of casters ''literally carving into her body and ripping out her veins'' to do things like create sprays of blood that burst into flames or summon swarms of flies. She can also harness the blood of living beings as a medium to manifest her power, and seems to be fond of bloodshed just for bloodshed's sake, giving Mohg a cult which promotes killing in her name. Her followers maim themselves using her blood, and use these injuries to invade and kill other Tarnished in their name and in hers.
* BodyHorror: If you can consider the air around Mohg to be her "body", then he's inflicting this on her constantly. Every spell he uses is caused by quickly mutilating the Mother and using her blood as a weapon.
* CombatSadomasochist: An odd example, as her sadomasochism is used for ''others''' combat. Using any Blood spell is described as causing a wound to the Formless Mother, causing her blood to manifest for the caster to manipulate. The Formless Mother actively ''encourages'' her followers to use her like this.
* CompleteImmortality: Implied. The Formless Mother is technically the only Outer God the players can 'harm' through the use of Blood Oath spells and Mohg's spear, stabbing through a red portal and splashing her blood onto your enemies; of course, she ''craves'' wounds, and is a cosmic beings of such proportions that human-inflicted wounds would never be able to kill her, if such a thing is even possible.
* TheCorruption: A subtler example compared to other Outer Gods, but still present: animals corrupted by her influence grow bloody warts all over their body similiar in appearance but distinct from creatures corrupted by the Scarlet Rot, and causes them to inflict magically-induced bleeding. On humanoids, or at least Albinaurics, her blood corruption causes the skin to turn blood-red and grow small horns on their heads, and allows them to (painfully) channel blood magic with their own bodies. She seems to have an effect on the land as well, as areas influenced by the Bloody Fingers have huge clumps of solid, seemingly coagulated blood ammassed on the ground.
* EvilIsVisceral: A deity associated with cruelty, blood, and murder, the base of operations for her followers is a ''lake'' of bubbling blood led by a grotesque monster with a horn [[EyeScream growing into his eye!]]
* HumanSacrifice: Her followers commit murder to empower themselves and her as well, and Mohg at least believes that with enough sacrifical blood, Miquella will be reborn into a biddable puppet.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The Mother and her followers express love and affection (which, for her followers at least, appears to be genuine in an extremely twisted way) by viciously harming and abusing the targets of their desires. This extends to the Mother herself, who craves wounds and whose followers ecstaticly maim and injure her formless body as a sign of devotion.
* MythologyGag: The Formless Mother is very likely a reference to [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Formless Oedon]]. Other than the similar epithet, they're both eldritch gods heavily associated with blood, both are tied to a slumbering infant god, both are associated with a [[AnimeCatholicism Catholic aesthetic]] (Oedon having chapels dedicated to him, the Formless Mother's main spot of worship being a fortified cathedral), both are the figures of worship of a ReligionOfEvil focused on blood and whose leader aspires to ascend to godhood, and both are completely physically absent from their respective games.
* NonIndicativeName: Her alternate title, the "Mother of Truth". Her adherents are secretive and deceptive, and she herself is implied to be manipulating Mohg.
* OneBadMother: One of the most overtly malevolent deities in the setting is called the "Formless Mother."
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The primary color scheme of a god associated with blood and murder is, you guessed it, red and black.
* {{Sadist}}: Mohg's overtly sexual and very depraved intentions for Miquella color a lot of what we know of the Formless Mother as well. She seems to enjoy receiving wounds, not unlike a real-life masochist, but her followers use her burning blood to maim and kill on her behalf, and seem to take pleasure in doing so. As seen in {{Yandere}} below, adherents of the Formless Mother almost seem incapable of differentiating between cruelty and affection.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As an Omen, Mohg was looked at as a demon and shunned by society. The Formless Mother encouraged him to become the monster that everyone saw him as.
* {{Yandere}}: Both of the major emissaries of the Formless Mother, Mohg and Varre, have a twisted and disturbing obsession with "love," and seem to think that the primary way to show it is through inflicting pain. That the Mother's followers show fealty to her by maiming her, and that she welcomes and even ''craves'' these wounds, indicate that it's a mindset learned from their patron goddess.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The God of the Twinbird]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' Ghostflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/y2dhscj0l4w81.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twimbird]]
Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
\\
After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
----
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various black flames and the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Similar to the Moon, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The [[MonsterProgenitor Twinbird]] that arrived in The Lands Between in ancient times was probably not a "bird" as we understand the concept. Going by associated iconography, it had two heads, black and red feathers and it was ''huge''. If the description of it descending down from the heavens is literal, then [[FantasyAliens it flew through space from another world to get here.]] Somehow it mothered the Deathbirds, these freaky living skeletons that can control the blackflame, despite being the only one of its kind. Most disturbing of all, it has the ability to influence the souls of those who die in The Lands Between and can even control them with its unique powers.
* AnimalMotifs: Heavily associated with birds, especially carrion birds like crows and vultures which are frequently misunderstood scavengers; this ties into the belief that death is a natural part of life. Notably, the Deathbirds look vaguely like grotesque vulture chicks.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Its is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) and the Eclipse Shotel can inflict the crushing Deathblight.
* GodOfTheDead: Described as an God of death, its adepts practice necromancy, used ghostflame and sorcery linked to death and his vassals used to guide the souls of the dead before the era of the erdtree.
* HumanSacrifice: The Sacrificial Axe mentions that sacrificial rituals were part of the cult of the Deathbirds, but does not explore what exactly was sacrificed. The Red and Blue-Feathered Branchsword adds that, at the very least, followers offered themselves in some death rituals, in order to obtain a "glorious end" and give "a death worth offering".
* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
* NotAfraidToDie: Most of the information on the subject indicated that death was considered sacred by the followers of the Deathbirds. They didn't seem to be afraid of dying; quite the contrary, they were willing to embrace their own death in the hope of being resurrected into something better.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The deathbirds are said to guard the ashes of the dead and guide them, and have command over wandering spirits with the power of ghostflame.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Subtle, but the elements are present. The oldest known death worship in the Lands Between (''"In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame."'') came from the Deathbirds, and they were known for burning the remains of the dead with their ghostflame and raking their ashes -- a ''role'' meant to be. Ancient priests who became guardians of these birds also went through the "rite of Death" to mark their oaths, sworn to a distant resurrection -- an oath sworn ''duty''.
* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones and feels cold to the touch.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
\\
At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
\\
In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
\\
Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
\\
Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
[[/folder]]
[[WMG:[[center: [-''VideoGame/EldenRing'' '''[[Characters/EldenRing Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingTheTarnished The Tarnished]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMarika Marika]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''Outer Gods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingGodfrey Godfrey]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMorgott Morgott]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMohg Mohg]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn Radahn]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRykard Rykard]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRanniTheWitch Ranni the Witch]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]
!The Outer Gods
!!WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS
Unseen and phenomenally powerful entities from outside the world, said to be similar in nature and might to the Greater Will. Few mortals are aware of their existence; those who do call them "outer gods" of various different motifs. Greater in strength and power, even beyond Marika and her ilk, these entities have exerted their influence ever since the ancient history of Lands Between, and some are still trying to expand their reach even further. Unseen and acting through proxies and catspaws, they nevertheless wield tremendous influence over the setting of ''Elden Ring'' and its plot and backstory. Many of them act as rivals to the Greater Will, and some have direct influence in some of the game's MultipleEndings.
The exact number and identity of the outer gods is impossible to determine, due to occasionally conflicting information in the lore, plus the Golden Order having actively sought to erase or distort the knowledge of its rivals. Nevertheless, the following deities can be reasonably identified:
* The Greater Will itself, the higher power that bestowed the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Golden Order the tree imposes, who guided Marika before the Shattering.
* The Dark Moon, an entity associated with glintstone sorceries and the night sky, and the only outer god whom the Greater Will has an explicit alliance with.
* The Scarlet Rot, described as "Rot itself", a manifestation of disease, decay, and rebirth.
* The Frenzied Flame, an entity associated with madness and chaos that is hated and feared across the Lands Between.
* The Formless Mother, also known as the "Mother of Truth", a being of formless burning blood that is worshipped by the Bloody Fingers.
* The Outer God of the Twinbird, an entity affiliated with ghostflame and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.
* The "fell god" of the giants, a once-great entity associated with fire whose influence over the Lands Between was mostly wiped out when Marika annihilated its servants, the giants.
Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Outer God of the Twinbird. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.
Due to the outer gods' presence, nature, and motives being central to the history of the setting and the plot of the game, '''all spoilers involving them are unmarked''', so tread carefully.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:In General]]
'''Tropes applying to most or all of the outer gods:'''
* AboveTheGods: While they are not invincible or all-powerful (one of them was [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome defeated by a mortal]]), the game makes it clear their strength is far above the demigods and supposed "one true god" Marika (who is herself empowered by a similar being). The Scarlet Rot can ascend an [[ChosenOne Empyrean]] to the rank of God in Truth while imprisoned and the Formless Mother can do this too. And the Frenzied Flame is even more powerful. [[spoiler:Its unleashed strength can [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] and split the Erdtree]]. This provides a solid link to them, the Greater Will and the [[spoiler:Dark Moon]] the only other beings confirmed to have such power.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Whether or not the One Great described by Hyetta, speaking on behalf of the Frenzied Flame, even ''exists'', and if it does, whether or not it is an outer god. Hyetta describes it as the original form of life in Lands Between, fractured and divided into various lifeforms due to a mistake from the Greater Will. However, there is no information whatsoever about One Great's nature of being, as it is only hinted as an outer god because of circumstantial clues and the fact its state of being is a concern of the Frenzied Flame, which is definitively an outer god.
** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: All of them to a lesser or greater degree:
** The Greater Will seems to be ''mostly'' good, but how much of that is colored by the perception of its human followers is ambiguous. It abandoned the Lands Between for reasons unknown once Marika defied it, and it also ambiguously tolerates the Scarlet Rot's intercession in its affairs, despite the fact that the Will's own followers view being infected with Rot as a FateWorseThanDeath.
** The Dark Moon's affiliation with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the fallingstar beasts and Astel paints it as horrifying by the Earth-like standards of the Lands Between, but it seems to view those creatures as little more than animals. Its glintstone grows and consumes surrounding land and life, and both the starborne beasts and the glintstones were apparently sent to the Lands Between ''by accident'', or at least not deliberately. The closest it seems to get to intentionally interacting with mortals is providing means to encourage self discovery and that only if said mortals contact it first.
** The Scarlet Rot and its followers seem to consider the horrible fates inflicted on those with Scarlet Rot -- their flesh rotting, their mind decaying, their soul withering -- as some sort of baptism so they can be reborn into their kindred. In particular, Sage Gowry believes Millicent being consumed by her rot due to despair and becoming a scarlet rot flower to be utterly "magnificent" with no malice whatsoever, finding it a joyous occasion. Despite Malenia and Millicent being the two proxies it works through during the events of the game, both of them hate the Rot and seek to throw off its influence -- something that the outer god doesn't seem to mind, or even be aware of. Notably, the fact that the Rot-blessed Malenia was named Empyrean by the Two Fingers indicates the Greater Will, or at least its envoys, do not view the Scarlet Rot's motives and methods negatively.
** The Frenzied Flame views all life as an aberration created by the Greater Will, and seeks to return life to its original, singular state -- an act which would necessitate the destruction of ''every living thing'', from humans to plants and animals and even fungi and microorganisms. Its adherents view this as a good thing, and they also willingly allow the Flame to blind them as it fills them with [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow esoteric knowledge]], offering their pus-filled eyes as "grapes" to Hyetta in order to inflict her with the Flame's madness, a fact which initially disturbs her but which she soon grows to relish.
** The Formless Mother relishes in pain and agony, not only in the inflicting of it in others but in ''herself''; her incantations involve maiming her [[note]]''somehow,'' as she is without form as her epithet implies[[/note]] and allowing her blood to manifest in the mortal realm. She "blesses" her champion Mohg with burning blood, a fate that seems agonizing yet which both the Mother and Mohg himself view positively, and bestowed the same upon Mohg's twin Morgott, a fate Morgott never asked for. This is especially bizarre as Morgott is an impossibly devout follower of the Golden Order, who is otherwise unaffiliated with her in any way. Notably for the Formless Mother, while her followers will typically inflict blood loss when they attack their foes, she does not grant immunity to blood loss the same way those inflicted with Scarlet Rot are immune to it: Wounds are sacred to her.
** The one who sent the Twinbird has the most obscure motivations of all. The Deathbirds appear to hold "death" as sacred, seeing as they devote their lifetime to burn the remains of the dead and rake their ashes, but the birds were also known to make pacts with priests who swore to become their guardians in exchange for a "distant resurrection", which mean they are not particularly against resurrections.
** The fell god of the giants is the only one to which this doesn't apply, simply because almost ''nothing'' is known about it. What little is understood is that it both inhabited the giants and ''enslaved'' them, and both parties viewed this as a benevolent act.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The outer gods are shown to be able to [[WindsOfDestinyChange alter the destiny]] of individuals of their choosing, in much the same manner the Greater Will uses its emissaries the Two Fingers to choose individuals to be its Empyreans to bear the Elden Ring.
** After studying the stars, various sorcerers encountered "Moons" which guide them using the very stars. The Carian royal family in particular was granted knowledge about various truths of the universe and the Sorceries they wield, eventually culminating with Ranni, who is able to channel the Dark Moon with her Sorcery. Radahn's action of blocking falling stars and the light of the distant stars had halted this for a while, but his defeat allows the Dark Moon to once again guide Ranni.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared to [[TheChosenMany the people of Great Caravan due to their despair and curse for the world]], and sent its emissary the Three Fingers to choose individuals with the potential of becoming its divine manifestation -- the Lord of Chaos. Shabriri is also granted the ability to BodySurf corpses so he can continue preaching about its influence.
** The Scarlet Rot foregoes using any emissary, as it blessed Malenia ''directly in the womb'' with Rot. It's unclear what factors allowed it to do so, given most instances of outer gods directly blessing individuals generally happen because said individuals encountered, contacted, or attracted their attention in some way, and Malenia certainly was unable to as a fetus. There are a number of factors which might explain this[[note]]as Malenia was born from Marika and Radagon -- who are the same person -- which Goldmask implicitly calls an imperfection in the Golden Order, it is possible the twins born of them are not under Erdtree's Grace and thus ripe for outer gods to directly influence; it is also possible Greater Will does not view Scarlet Rot in an antagonistic manner like it does outer gods of fire, and thus has no issue with the Rot blessing Malenia -- as despite Malenia's Rot being a great danger to everything around her since ''birth'', the Two Fingers still chose her to be a candidate for Empyrean[[/note]], but none of them can be confirmed.
** The Formless Mother came to Mohg as a child and taught him how to draw upon her power through Blood Incantations. She later tasked him with kidnapping one of the Empyreans so she could corrupt them with her blood into a vassal, whom Mohg could wed to become "the Lord of Blood".
** Dragonlord Placidusax was Elden Lord in an age before Godfrey and Marika, suggesting that he and his spouse were chosen as the Greater Will's foremost emissaries. Notably, despite his god[[note]]Not "outer god", so presumably a deity similar to Marika.[[/note]] having fled the Lands Between in the aftermath of most of the dragons abandoning it for loyalty to Marika's Golden Order, Placidusax is said to be stalwartly awaiting its return.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (death, disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: At least a few of them appear to be empowered by faith and worship in some way. One of them (the Frenzied Flame) awakened in the Lands Between by a curse of despair chanted by the people of the Great Caravan upon losing their cherished home. The influence of the fell god seems tied to their followers, with the fell god's influence waning considerably when the giants were wiped out.
* TheCorruption: At least three of the outer gods (the Dark Moon, the Scarlet Rot, and the Frenzied Flame) have their essences manifest as forces which can corrupt Lands Between and its inhabitants to varying degrees. See their individual folders for more.
* ColorMotif: Just like the Greater Will is heavily associated with gold and the Dark Moon with blue, some of the other Outer Gods are associated with red:
** Scarlet Rot is called such due to its vivid scarlet color -- most notably Caelid and the Lake of Rot being heavily tinted in almost all aspects. It also generally goes together with muted, organic colors that show up on the plants/mushrooms that accompany its influence.
** Yellow is heavily associated with the Flame of Frenzy. Many of its items are yellow and it's directly called the "yellow flame of frenzy".
** The Twinbird God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds have a more solid black fire with palish blue.
** The Formless Mother and the weapons/spells that derive from her and her cult are represented by a deep, bloody shade of red with some black mixed in.
** The fell god is associated with the rich orange-red of forge flames.
** While primarily associated with gold, the Greater Will has a subtle connection to red too. Specifically in the form of the Primordial Crucible (the form the Erdtree took before the Golden Order) which is linked with red-tinged gold. The red lightning of Ancient Dragons (one of whom is the Elden Ring's previous wielder) may be linked to the Greater Will too as it is noted to be tinged with gold.
* CosmicChessGame: They seem to be in a struggle with each other to spread their influence across the Lands Between, and mostly do so by using native inhabitants of the realm as proxies:
** The Greater Will has exerted the most direct influence over the Lands Between, to the point that its Golden Order serves as the basis for the laws of reality itself. Raising Marika to godhood and gifting her the Elden Ring to cement her power, it directed her to war against the giants, servants of an outer god. It tolerated reverence for the Moons done by the Liurnians (likely because they had initiated conversation with the Dark Moon, rather than the other way around) and, for whatever reason, also either allowed the Scarlet Rot to bless Malenia in the womb with its Rot or took no steps to curtail its influence, even naming her an Empyrean. The Greater Will's hold on the Lands Between has started to slip as Marika, its foremost servant, rebelled against it and shattered the Elden Ring. Having abandoned the Lands Between due to Marika's betrayal, it is poised to be usurped by outer gods, which indeed is possible for the Dark Moon, the Frenzied Flame, and Death in some of the game's MultipleEndings. In the base ending, the Golden Order is established as-is with the PlayerCharacter as Elden Lord; the Age of Order ending establishes a modified version of the Golden Order in which gods like Marika are no longer allowed to act as they please. The Blessing of Despair ending establishes a twisted return of the Golden Order stained by the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, in which all present and future generations will be barred from returning to the Erdtree.
** The Dark Moon is rather unique compared to the Greater Will or the others with known influence in Lands Between, in that it doesn't seem to be actively spreading its influence. The phenomenon of its falling stars hitting Lands Between seems to occur naturally, as the Dark Moon didn't make its existence known to the ancient humans who discovered its [[AlienKudzu Glintstones]] until after the ancient astrologers developed Sorcery using the stones and then encountered it in their studies of stars. After that, its influences are through [[{{Lunacy}} guiding moonlight]] and very personal in nature to each individual seeking its guidance, as the likes of Ranni, Azur, Lusat and various others were all inspired with different Sorceries from it. Even the star spawn creatures rising from its meteors are not implied to be directed or guided by it, instead [[FisherKingdom evolving and gaining traits based on where they landed in Lands Between]], with equal chances of becoming either sapient and civilized beings like Alabaster and Onyx Lords or animalistic and calamitous forces like fallingstar beasts and Astel. The Dark Moon can assume influence over the Lands Between in place of the Greater Will if the player pursues the Age of the Stars ending, but even that is largely due to the machinations of Ranni and the PlayerCharacter and Ranni's descriptions imply that the Dark Moon's influence on the world will not extend further than keeping other Outer Gods at bay.
** The Scarlet Rot once had an attempt to spread its influence at some point in history, but was halted under unknown circumstances and now [[SealedEvilInACan a part of its essence is sealed beneath]] [[GardenOfEvil the Lake of Rot]], turning it into [[LeakingCanOfEvil the hellish pit it is now]]. Even so, it doesn't stop [[PoisonousPerson creatures of rot]] from being born there, nor does it stop madmen from forming the [[BreedingCult Order of Rot]] to worship the Scarlet Rot, mutate themselves and others into rot creatures, and facilitate its spread. It also "blessed" [[TheChosenOne Malenia]] in the womb with the Rot, and the main goal of the Order of Rot (and, implicitly, the god they worship) is to get either Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and "bloom," becoming true avatars to the Scarlet Rot. Interestingly, the fact that the Greater Will took no steps to prevent the Scarlet Rot from infecting Malenia and that its envoys declared her an Empyrean indicates that it may not view Scarlet Rot as an enemy -- for whatever reason.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared prior to the Shattering to Shabriri and the Great Caravan who fell to [[DespairEventHorizon despair when they were buried alive underground for their heretical beliefs]]. Unlike the others known to influence Lands Between, the Frenzied Flame isn't keen on forming a cult, but instead dedicates its chosen ones to spread the corrupting flame of [[PowerBornOfMadness madness]] to other life and to [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos across the land against any form of order, chiefly being the Golden Order which Marika imposed]]. Its end goal is fairly vague, with those who possess insight to its nature claiming it desires to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all life on this world]] so these lifeforms [[AssimilationPlot can return to their original primordial form called the "One Great"]], but whatever it wants, it involves [[WorldWreckingWave burning the entire world with Frenzied Flame]]. Although the servants of other outer gods have succeeded in sealing away its envoy, the Three Fingers, it can still get its wish if the PlayerCharacter meets with the Fingers and takes in the Frenzied Flame, becoming the Lord of Chaos.
** During the Shattering wars, Mohg contacted an entity he calls "Formless Mother" and "Mother of Truth" in the hopes of [[DealWithTheDevil resurrecting Miquella as his divine consort and foundation of his dynasty]]. She complied, [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge granting him the knowledge]] to invent BloodMagic incantations derived from her blood and Mohg formed [[ReligionOfEvil a cult to spread bloodshed]] to harvest enough blood as sacrifices to resurrect Miquella. Her blessing of Mohg's reluctant twin Morgott, and the apparent failure of Miquella to be resurrected, may indicate that the Formless Mother has [[UnwittingPawn greater plans than Mohg realizes]].
** The Deathbirds are mothered by a "twinbird" envoy of an outer god associated with death. They were once prominent prior to the Age of the Erdtree, comparable to {{psychopomp}}s in role and described as keepers of "ghostflames" which burn the remains of the dead into ashes. They are considered malevolent deities by the Golden Order, which contributed to their fading into obscurity. Its motivations are by and large a mystery, because the Deathbirds have largely gone into hiding.
** The Fire Giants were heavily implied to [[{{Precursors}} have built a civilization]] who worshipped and [[DivineAssistance borrowed the power]] of a "fell god" which dwells in their flames and their very bodies, and [[DivineConflict this is heavily implied to be the reason why Marika and her Empire were ordered by the Greater Will to eradicate them]]. Though it's never explicitly referred to as an outer god, the fact the flame within the Forge of Giants remains undying despite Marika's attempt to extinguish it -- even with the power of Elden Ring -- and its ability to burn the Erdtree implies it is one. Whatever plans the fell god had appear to have fallen with the giants' civilization, and now it is simply used as a stepping stone to overcome the obstacles set forth by the Greater Will and, potentially, allow other gods to take the stage.
* CosmicEntity: At least two of these beings are noted to influence the cosmos beyond the world of Lands Between, the Greater Will and the Moons. While it doesn't say so outright, the Future Press guide also heavily implies that the beings identified as "outer gods" are from the cosmos; it introduces them by saying that "the fledgling planet was not alone in the vast expanse of the cosmos, and before long a host of outer gods and fell creatures of the starry void took notice of its existence", with the story section about them titled "Visitors From Beyond." Wherever they're from, it's definitely not the Lands Between.
* DespairEventHorizon: A trait shared by the Frenzied Flame and Scarlet Rot is that they have a much easier time taking over their appointed vessels if the vessel experiences great despair, presumably because it causes their will to be broken. In fact, the Frenzied Flame only exists because this horizon was collectively crossed by an entire race.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The outer gods appear to lack a true form which can ''die'', but any physical influence, proxies, and manifestations they have can be beaten back, sealed or killed. Marika's Empire defeated the Fire Giants so thoroughly that their fell god's influence is effectively removed from the land. An ancient god of Rot was said to be defeated and sealed away by a blind swordsman with a sword bestowed by a "fairy", now locked somewhere in the Lake of Rot. The Fingerslayer Blade is also said to be able to harm the Greater Will and its vassals, and Ranni proves she can kill at least the Two Fingers with it. The Fire Giant offers its leg before its chest opens revealing a grotesque face similar to depictions of the fell god; since the fell god was said to reside ''in'' the giants, this suggests the Giant may be channeling or even taken over by the fell god, but it is still defeated just like any other boss. And in all endings, the player challenges and defeats the Elden Beast, an embodiment of the order of the Greater Will.
* DivineConflict: Most of the wars in the history of the Lands Between are a series of secret proxy wars fought by the outer gods for control over the land, and the Shattering is no exception.
* TheDreaded: With the exception of the Greater Will, which is widely viewed as benevolent, and to a lesser extent the Dark Moon, whose glintstones are viewed as dangerous yet important sources of sorcery, almost every outer god invokes fear in those who know of it:
** The Scarlet Rot inflicts a FateWorseThanDeath upon infectees, and Radahn's forces have more or less tapped out of the Shattering entirely in a desperate attempt to contain its spread.
** The Frenzied Flame's infliction of madness and [[OmnicidalManiac desire to end all life]] terrifies anyone who knows of it. Its first adherent, Shabriri, is described as "the most reviled man in history" and is a [[BodySurf Body Surfing]] SerialKiller. Melina [[NotSoStoic uncharacteristically]] ''[[NotSoStoic begs]]'' [[NotSoStoic you]] not to meet with its servants the Three Fingers the closer you draw to them. Even a nomad merchant, one of the very individuals who called it to the Lands Between to begin with, warns you away from the Frenzied Flaming Village.
** The Formless Mother's greatest servants are a cult of {{Serial Killer}}s led by a rapacious SatanicArchetype. Everyone who knows of them hates and fears them, and her by extension.
** The very moniker of "fell god" evokes dread and fear, and generations after the war against the giants has been long concluded, icons of the giants and their lord are used as universal symbols of terror.
** The lightning wielded by the Stoneguard ancient dragons, granted by their deity, was able to hurt the Erdtree. This horrified Marika's empire, to the point some Tree Sentinels become obsessed with becoming dragons to protect their Erdtree, and was a deciding factor in them going to war.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: Most of them act as the source of power for a corresponding school of Incantations used primarily by their followers as a means of strengthening their hold on the world. Yet they seem to care little about who wields their power and for what purposes: the Formless Mother, for instance, does nothing to stop you from using Blood Oath spells to slay Mohg despite his status as her greatest champion.
* EldritchAbomination: All of them. The Greater Will is never referred to as having a body and may, as it is called, be nothing ''but'' will; the Dark Moon lives in outer space and creates AlienKudzu and lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by ''existing''; the Scarlet Rot manifests as a living, sentient disease that corrupts everything it touches; the Frenzied Flame is an intangible force of fire that bestows both knowledge and madness upon its followers, and wishes to return the world to what is effectively primordial soup; the Formless Mother has no physical form, yet the incantation Bloodboon states that it works through carving your hand ''inside her body'' and splattering her blood -- which combusts into flames -- to your enemies; the fell god of the giants seemingly inhabited both the giants themselves as well as their forge, and may actually ''be'' fire in the form of a HiveMind.
* EmotionalPowers: Several of the outer gods are affiliated with emotions in some way:
** The Dark Moon has a heavy individualism theme, with many of those who communed with it such as Ranni, Azur, and Lusat all developing wildly different sorceries based on the creator's own mindset and outlook.
** The Scarlet Rot has some nebulous and unclear ties to its host's emotional state. Malenia is said to have needed to maintain her "pride", "will", and "sense of self" to stop it from breaking out, while Gowry states that Millicent would need to die in despair from [[EtTuBrute the Tarnished's betrayal]] for the Rot's power to bloom properly.
** The Frenzied Flame was implied to come into the world when the people of the Great Caravan despaired after [[BuriedAlive being sentenced to execution via mass burial]] for heresy. Its incantations can also literally kill people by driving them to madness.
* EvilIsBurningHot: As a god of life, fire is anathema to the Greater Will, and so fire is also associated with the most thoroughly (and indiscriminately) antagonistic Outer Gods. Whatever their quibbles with the Golden Order, few residents of the Lands Between are keen on entities that want to burn all life from their world.
* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twimbird God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
* EvilPowerVacuum: The destruction of the Elden Ring and the waning of the Greater Will's influence on the Lands Between seems to have left it wide open for intrusion by the Outer Gods. Otherwise it's a very bizarre coincidence that Malenia's Rot significantly worsening, Mohg getting into full contact with the Formless Mother and becoming Blood Lord, the Frenzied Flame infecting settlements in the heart of Altus, and the Dark Moon deciding to open the path to Nokron all just happened to coincide with the Shattering.
* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for God of the Twibird, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and God of the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* TheGhost: While their influence is certainly felt, none of these entities manifest in the Lands Between. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since as eldritch entities beyond space and time, they might not have a true form and any manifestation they do have can be considered [[FightingAShadow temporary vessels]]. Some of them do downplay this however:
** The Greater Will sent the Elden Beast along with the Elden Ring and has Two Fingers as its heralds. While the Elden Beast's exact role is unknown, each Empyrean chosen to bear the Elden Ring becomes a god as the Greater Will's extension of being or divine proxy. They as well as their consort Elden Lords are explicitly called champions of the Erdtree and the Greater Will, and are referred to as "gods in truth".
** An ancient god described as "Rot itself" was defeated and sealed away near the Lake of Rot at some point in the past. It's ambiguous if this god was a vassal like the Elden Beast, a proxy like Marika, or the outer god itself manifesting, but in any case the Scarlet Rot has marked Malenia as its latest proxy; if she "blooms" three times, she would become a true "goddess" -- a true extension of the Scarlet Rot. The Rot seems to still be a sentient force exerting itself even in this state, as it's capable of spawning fully-formed sapient beings (Kindred of Rot) who can act against its "hosts" (one is shown keeping Millicent prisoner), and Millicent states that Malenia needed "a will that was once her own" and "a sense of self" to resist the Rot.
** The Frenzied Flame also has a herald in the Three Fingers, and anyone powerful enough to harness its flame's true potential to be the Lord of Chaos becomes its proxy.
** An outer god is said to have sent the Twinbird as its envoy, who subsequently spawned the Deathbirds, an entire group of creatures capable of controlling and guiding the souls of the dead.
** The flames of Fire Giants are said to contain the "presence" of their fell god. In particular, the flame in the Forge of the Giants is shown to be inextinguishable even to Marika, so it might be a proxy or even the god's actual physical manifestation in Lands Between. The Fire Giant also manifests a face similar to ancient depictions of the fell god during its BossBattle.
* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the God of the Twimbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twimbird God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while God of the Twimbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While not the direct antagonists of the game, their CosmicChessGame and attempt to expand their influences are the cause of ''many'' troubling things the Tarnished has to deal with, from [[ZombieApocalypse Those Who Live in Death]] and alien beasts like Astel and the Crystalians to the threat of the Scarlet Rot and everything to do with the Frenzied Flame. The conflicts between followers of certain outer gods with Marika on behalf of Greater Will have literally shaped the pre-history and history of Lands Between. In many ways, the entire Shattering is nothing more than an elaborate proxy war fought between the outer gods for control of the Lands Between.
* JerkassGods: From a normal human being's perspective, none of the Outer Gods seem to have good plans for humanity: some seem neutral or indifferent, others are downright hostile to humanity or have malicious intent, or their way of spreading influence would completely transform and change humanity as we know it. Even the Greater Will, the one most widely viewed as conventionally "good", abandoned the Lands Between the moment the Shattering started, leaving humanity to the predations of rampaging demigods fighting for power.
* KryptoniteFactor: Unalloyed gold made by Miquella can stop their control on a person; when combined with a component that puts them "outside of time" (like Dragonlord Placidusax's chamber), Miquella's crafts can purge their influence entirely. Mirrorhelms from the eternal cities are designed to be this but only for the Greater Will.
* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the God of the Twimbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
* OurGodsAreGreater: Unlike Marika and her family who fit the typical "humans, but grander" mold of many classic pantheons from world myth, the outer gods are both far more powerful and far more unknowable, being impossibly powerful, cosmic entities from beyond the world. They have an almost Lovecraftian vibe to them.
* PhysicalGod: On 2 different levels:
** The outer gods exist on such a vast scale of existence to the point their envoys and chosen ones themselves are considered divinities. The Two Fingers are worshipped [[OurAngelsAreDifferent almost like angels]] while Empyreans chosen by them to bear the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Elden Beast are all deemed as gods. Malenia, who was blessed with the Rot to become its champion, is effectively the larval form of a goddess and worshipped as such by the Order of Rot. All of these imply the only reason the envoys and champions of outer gods aren't named gods in the game is because the Golden Order faith deems them as alien, heretical beings.
** A number of outer gods have ''direct'' manifestations which ''can'' be physically interacted with and even killed. This is most obvious for the Formless Mother, whose school of magic involves its followers stabbing its veins and spilling its cursed blood through reality itself. The Scorpion's Stinger also states that the Outer God of Rot has a body, which is currently sealed under the Lake of Rot - the weapon itself is a relic of the god (i.e., a body part). The One-Eyed Shield is also said to be a depiction of "the malformed fell god" of the Fire Giants (i.e. it had a form), which along with Marika being said to have slain it on the same item description, indicates it had a body too.
* RealityWarper:
** All known outer gods can alter fate or causality to their will, and their physical manifestations can twist the laws of physics passively or actively: the Glintstones are the basis of Sorcery, and outer gods often exert their presence or essence as different schools of Incantations. Given the Dark Moon can share its guidance even to dwellers of Eternal Cities (which are trapped underground and thus unable to see the stars), and the Formless Mother's followers can reach its formless veins ''anywhere in the world'', it's clear even ''space and time'' don't restrict their influence either. However, they do seem to have limits:
** While they can freely influence any entity of their choosing (regardless of race, even the likes of giants and dragons), they need to ''notice'' their targets first in some way. At least a few outer gods extended their influence into the Lands Between because they were contacted by natives (Dark Moon, Formless Mother), while at least one came to Lands Between because certain elements attracted it (Frenzied Flame).
** They cannot freely affect those who are already under the influence of an outer god; they require a more direct means of intervention to subvert this hold[[note]]the Greater Will needs its herald the Two Fingers to affect Ranni and bind her to be an Empyrean, and the Frenzied Flame needs the Three Fingers to bless a Tarnished guided by Grace to turn them into a potential Lord of Chaos; the Scarlet Rot might ''look'' like an exception to this as it blessed Malenia in the womb, but the circumstances of her birth might have made her unprotected by Golden Order and Erdtree's Grace due to being born from a single god, which is noted to be a flaw in the Golden Order[[/note]].
** Finally, powers born of outer gods can counteract other outer gods. Mirrorhelms, connected to the Eternal Cities and the Carians, are born from the Dark Moon and expressly shield the wearer from the Greater Will. The unalloyed gold researched by Miquella can suppress the Scarlet Rot in one of its bearers, and can also be used to purge the Frenzied Flame from a recalcitrant Lord of Chaos. The flame of the fell god, empowered by Melina's sacrifice, can burn the Erdtree and allow the Tarnished to seek its interior. Radahn proves it is also possible to turn the powers of an Outer God against itself to ward off their influence, as he wielded the gravity powers learned from star spawn to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard slay them]].
* ReligionOfEvil: Many of them have formed these:
** The Scarlet Rot is worshipped by the Order of Rot, consisting of the monstrous Kindred of Rot. Their duty is to spread the Rot as much as they can, forcibly transforming others into more kindred in the process, and also to convince Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and ascend as an avatar of the Scarlet Rot. To that end they've abducted the reluctant Millicent and kept her prisoner. They also attempt to manipulate the Tarnished into betraying Millicent so that her despair causes her to "bloom".
** The Frenzied Flame has its own counterpart to the Two Fingers, the Three Fingers, complete with Finger Maidens who are granted both insight and madness by being fed the diseased eyeballs of its adherents. The entire faith seems to be led by Shabriri, a reviled historical figure who can BodySurf thanks to the Frenzied Flame and uses this ability to spread chaos through the world.
** The Bloody Fingers are the most overt, being a religious cult of assassins based in a fortified underground cathedral led by the local SatanicArchetype.
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the God of The Twimbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
** The Fire Monks were set to guard the fell god of the giants, but have grown to worship it instead, and have taken advantage of the Shattering to set up militant forts and encampments throughout the Lands Between.
** The dragon cult seeks to "worship" dragons by hunting them and devouring their hearts in an act of Dragon Communion. The result of this is that practitioners begin to grotesquely mutate into Magma Wyrms, bloated monsters that are a hideous reflection of the dragons they worship. Note that the dragons themselves strongly object to the killing of their fellows; Ekzykes, even after being infected by the Scarlet Rot, never forgot his hatred and drive for revenge against Dragon Communers.
* UnreliableNarrator: Most of what we hear about them is filtered either through the mindset of followers of the Greater Will, who will naturally denigrate other gods to make their own look good, or from their own followers, in which the reverse is true. The only other information to go on is buried scraps of history and fables and fairy tales, some of which are contradictory, and necessitates taking all information about the outer gods with a very large grain of salt.
* TheUnreveal: The fell god receives less insight into its personality and motives, as its influence waned in ages past when their followers were either wiped out (Fire Giants, some trolls) or defected to the Greater Will (most trolls).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
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Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\
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The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\
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Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between with all elements of its presence in the world appearing accidental and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. The threats of their stars -- namely the spread of glintstone as AlienKudzu and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry -- appear to be accidental, and tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of glintstones. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those]] [[CrapsackWorld entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly]] wide [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] of [[StarfishAliens forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
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In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
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Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
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Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
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* AchillesHeel:
** Fire, at least for creatures infected by the Rot itself. Virtually every creature in Caelid and the Lake of Rot are weak to flame, and fire is what Radahn's army uses to contain and purge the creatures infested by the Rot.
** Clean, flowing water acts an antithesis to the Rot. The god itself was supposedly imprisoned beneath the Lake of Rot by the actions of a mysterious swordsman who was aided by a water fairy, and the same swordsman was implied to be the one who trained Malenia in how to use her sword. The Rot has thematic connections to ''kegare'', a Shinto belief in spiritual corruption and decay, which is also countered in Shinto by flowing water.
* AndIMustScream: Creatures infected by Scarlet Rot who don't perish or begin mutating usually start fusing with the rot-infected ground. As shown by Greyoll, they don't have to be dead for this to happen. The mother of dragons is fused to the earth of her own barrow, unable to move or defend herself in any way, yet is still alive as she slowly rots to death.
* AnimalMotifs: Arthropods, fitting for a god of decay. The God of Rot itself is a giant scarlet scorpion according to the Scorpion's Stinger item description, the Kindred of Rot resemble humanoid centipedes that can also shoot out web-like projectiles (Pest Threads), and the "bloomings" of the Rot's vessels (like potentially Malenia and Millicent) are accompanied by Aeonian Butterflies.
* TheAssimilator: Dying from the Scarlet Rot seems to cause the being to be completely consumed by it, turning into strange, fungal ''things'' that can [[BodyHorror still bleed]]. Some dragon corpses, as well as the still-alive Greyoll, can be seen with their massive bodies partially consumed by the Scarlet Rot covered ground.
* BodyHorror: Victims afflicted with the long-term version of Scarlet Rot (as opposed to the short-duration infection that kills you in seconds, but can be dispelled with boluses) wander about in misery with giant poison mushrooms growing out of their heads. The bulbous, fungal growths throughout Caelid were once living things, and they still bleed if you hit them with a weapon. Even Malenia, the Rot's champion, has her body slowly decaying from the inside out, with three of her four limbs being prosthetic, her eyes eaten away to the point of blindness, and much of her skin being diseased and rotten.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: The Scarlet Rot is heavily associated with flowers and butterflies to the point where butterflies ''made'' of Rot are a sign that Malenia has embraced the Rot's power. Adherents of the Order of Rot believe that being infected and transformed by the Scarlet Rot is a beautiful rebirth, with the alien glory of Malenia's Goddess of Rot phase in her boss fight making it clear that they're not entirely wrong (just mostly).
* TheCorruption: Many of the outer gods are guilty of this to some degree, but the Scarlet Rot is the most obvious about it. The Scarlet Rot corrupts the very land, causing everything including the sky above to turn into a sickly blood-red and causes most beings, including ancient and powerful things like dragons, to slowly lose their sanity and their body, which begins rotting to seemingly fuse with the land itself, [[AndIMustScream sometimes while the creature is still alive]]. Certain entities and people will instead mutate into creatures of rot, and the rot itself produces a number of unnatural lifeforms who only exist to cause more rot.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossing this allows the Scarlet Rot more leeway to possess its victims and transform them. Malenia's ability to resist it is tied in with her emotional state, and betraying Millicent at the eleventh hour of her quest causes her to fall into anguish and bloom into a rot flower. The Rot seems to be actively trying to push its hosts past this point (consciously or not) given that Millicent mentions it causes nightmares on top of the regular physical pain.
%%* Expy: Of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Nurgle, the Chaos God of nihilism and disease]]. Like Nurgle, this Outer God is a god of disease, and its Scarlet rot can infect not only the body but also the mind and soul, as General Radahn can attest to. It's also powerful enough to ''[[RealityWarper affect reality itself]]'', tinting the beings and lands alike with its colour. Worshipers of the Scarlet Rot preach it as the embodiment of the cycle of Death and Rebirth, and its infection gains grown when its victims [[DespairEventHorizon fall into despair]]. Malenia is the unwillingly chosen Champion of the Scarlet Rot and she has insect-like wings, much like how Primarch Mortarion, Nurgle's unwillingly chosen, gained insect wings following his transformation into a Daemon Prince.
* FantasticNuke: More like a fantastic ''bioweapon''. Malenia's unleashing of the Rot against Radahn left devestation on the level of a [=WMD=] in its wake, with the effects having spread from their battleground and layed waste to all of Caelid.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Denied by the Rot itself as well as its adherents and worshippers, but fully played straight in the minds of everyone and everything else [[note]]potentially excepting, weirdly enough, none other than the Greater Will[[/note]]. Being infected by Scarlet Rot means, at ''best'', a slow wasting death that reduces you to a haggard shell of your former self and eats your mind until you are at a borderline feral state, with not even demigods being immune. At worst, it means becoming a bulbous, grotesque mass of fungus-like flesh growing into the blighted countryside while ''still conscious'', or even being twisted and "reborn" into something else entirely--a creature devoted to Rot whose only purpose is to spread more Rot. Any potential cure for the Rot is also not known to the population at large; the only commonly known method to prevent it is to KillItWithFire before it can spread.
* FesteringFungus: The Scarlet Rot is heavily affiliated with fungus, with the fungal-like growths across the surface of Caelid and some of the infectees having their heads replaced by giant mushrooms. Interestingly, the way the fungi are arranged and grow alongside other flora resembles a coral reef (albiet a twisted, horrifying version of one).
* FlowerMotifs: The Scarlet Rot is strongly associated with flowers, [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterflies, and the cycle of decay and birth]]. While Scarlet Rot typically kills most things infected ([[DeaderThanDead physically and mentally]]), certain compatible individuals will instead mutate into a creature of rot, a process described as "blooming". Malenia is also accompanied with what appears to be rotten butterflies when she lets her Scarlet Rot "bloom" unleashed, and her ultimate rot incantation, the Scarlet Aeonia, creates an eerily beautiful flower-shaped explosion of infectious mist.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Zigzagged.
** Judging from the fact the only means to alleviate Scarlet Rot build up or cure the status in the game are 4 specific consumables and spells: Preserving Bolus [[note]]which requires rare materials, including one, the Sacramental Bud, that doesn't respawn and can only be farmed as a rare drop from land octopi and dogs in the Writheblood Ruins[[/note]], Speckled Hardtear [[note]]A crystal tear formed in places where Erdtree's droplets fall for long periods of time[[/note]], Flame Cleanse Me spell [[note]]An Incantation invented by the Fire Monks who had turned against Golden Order by worshipping the Flame of the Fell God they were supposed to guard, which burns the body with flames to cure ailments[[/note]] and Law of Regression spell [[note]]one of the most advanced Incantations in Golden Order Fundamentalism, which devotees like Goldmask isn't even able to cast due to being based on Intelligence[[/note]]. The recipes of said consumables are generally ''nowhere'' near any area where the Scarlet Rot runs rampant, while the spells are either heretical to be learned (Flame Cleanse Me) or too ''advanced'' for average practitioners (Law of Regression), meaning it is possible the Scarlet Rot isn't so much incurable as much as the means to cure it being effectively unavailable to most victims who catch it.
** However, the Scarlet Rot can definitively kill the consciousness of immortal beings like demigods and dragons, even infecting Erdtree avatars. As such, the fact gameplay Scarlet Rot can be expunged by simply resting at a site of grace, and that the player's Tarnished respawns as normal after dying to it both mean this trope still applies.
** While unstated, we have pretty clear signs that there are just two kinds of Scarlet Rot infection: acute (HP drops very quickly, will eventually go away if you don't die, the patient functions more or less normally while it's active until they drop dead, can be cured with a bolus or spell) and chronic (slowly rot away over the course of years, excruciating and debilitating pain and reduced level of consciousness and memory, seemingly-incurable). Malenia, Millicent, Radahn, and a bunch of random enemies have the latter, while the former is what can be inflicted in-game with Rot spells and "cured" with the aforementioned methods. The in-game Scarlet Rot status effect rapidly drains health and can kill anything (the damage is percentage-based) without the intervention of magic,[[note]]16.2% Max HP + 1350 damage per proc over 90 seconds for weapon greases and rot pots. 29.7% Max HP + 1170 damage over 90 seconds some of your spells. ''990%'' Max HP + 7,800 damage per proc over 300 seconds for Malenia's uniquely potent version.[[/note]] but it only retains that form for some one to several minutes, after which it will cease to have an effect (you could simply survive it by out-healing the damage, for example). Meanwhile multiple in-universe characters are dealing with long-term infections that don't kill anywhere near as rapidly but are much more difficult to remove. Backing this is the fact that you ''can'' inflict the acute version on characters who are already dying of the chronic version, and the result is a very clear visual difference on their models, usually followed by them dying in seconds (this is especially easy to do on Radahn, who [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration at this point]] has extremely low Rot resistance to the point 1 Rot Pot will proc the status).
* GodzillaThreshold: Radahn's soldiers have largely abandoned the Shattering, instead devoting everything they have to prevent the Rot from spreading beyond Caelid, even as it strains their resources and leaves them vulnerable to other armies.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While mostly unrelated to the main plotline other than being another source of dangerous monsters the Tarnished has to face, it is firmly the fundamental cause of Miquella and Malenia's subplot alongside the more direct Mohg, as it choosing Malenia as its new avatar caused the demigod woman great pain all her life, and drove Miquella's motivations to find a definitive way to ward off the influence of Outer Gods. After Miquella is kidnapped by Mohg and Malenia loses her dignity in the fight against Radahn, the Scarlet Rot is free to ravage Caelid and the Haligtree to apocalyptic results and turn them into breeding grounds for rot-born creatures.
* HostileTerraforming: As an alien god that seeks to reshape the entire world in its own bizarre and inhospitable image, the Rot is Elden Ring's poster-entity for this trope. Caelid, the site of the great Scarlet Rot outbreak of the Shattering, almost looks like another planet, complete with an [[AlienSky ominous red sky]].
* LeakingCanOfEvil: The Rot is sealed inside the Lake of Rot, but is still very much capable of interacting with the world at large, from corrupting Malenia in the womb to creating small pockets of Rot throughout the Lands Between.
* LossOfIdentity: One of the most feared aspects of the Scarlet Rot is that it doesn't just kill you, it erases your very sense of self. Radahn, once a proud and honorable general, has been reduced to a guttural, feral monster eating the corpses of friend and foe alike. Millicent ultimately decides she would rather [[DyingAsYourself die with her memories and ego intact]] than let the Rot take her and erase her sense of being.
* LostInTranslation: It's essentially the god of ''kegare'', a Shinto concept of spiritual uncleanliness that doesn't really have a Western equivalent, broadly translated as defilement, impurity or corruption, though not necessarily moral, and in fact sources of kegare can be fully natural like (as seen in the Scarlet Rot) disease and corpses. Several item descriptions (such as soap) give short explanations of kegare, but you'll still have to be somewhat familiar with Shinto to get the connection between things like still water and centipedes that are associated with the Rot, and why flowing water opposes it.
* MysticalPlague: The Scarlet Rot is both the most feared disease in the history of the Lands Between and also the manifestation of a partially-sealed outer god. It's even capable of infecting wholly inorganic beings, such as Crystalians, or ''metaphysical concepts without tangible form'' like the Great Runes. Going by gameplay, the only things immune to it are lifeless constructs that never had organic material to rot nor a mind to lose (golems, Edtree Burial Watchdogs, etc.- Crystalians don't count because they are sentient beings), illusions, projections, and other such things that aren't really there (Margit, Golden Shade Godfrey, Mohg the Omen), or beings that are completely divine and thus out of the Rot's purview (Radagon & Elden Beast).
* NonIndicativeName: Despite repeatedly being described with {{Flower Motif}}s, the Rot has far more in common with fungi then any sort of flora. This appears to be a reference to real world botanical history, as mushrooms were originally categorized as a type of flower before science advanced enough to recognise the differences.
* NothingIsScarier: We know the "god that was Rot itself" has [[PhysicalGod a physical form]], and we know it's buried beneath or nearby the Lake of Rot but that is it. We don't know what it looks like other than the fact it is possibly a scorpion, how long it's been there and if it has any chance of escaping. We're not even entirely sure what it is, considering the sealed away presence could be anything from a vassal of the outer god similar to the Elden Beast (considered a god in its own right), a previously chosen champion acting as a proxy much like Malenia (who gets called "Goddess of Rot" in her second phase), or even the outer god itself.
* PhysicalGod: The Scorpion's Stinger weapon confirms whatever divine presence is currently sealed beneath the Lake of Rot is a physical being, quite possibly a giant scarlet scorpion if the description is anything to go by [[note]]it's "a ceremonial tool used by heretics, crafted from the relic of a sealed outer god"; 'relic' in religious contexts indicates a body part of a holy being[[/note]], while the description of the Lake of Rot map says "the divine essence of an outer god is sealed away in this land." The Blue Dancer Charm also states a blind swordmaster had defeated this god ages ago, but was only able to seal it away, rather than kill it. However, as described in NothingIsScarier above, the true nature of this ancient god remains unclear.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Blue Dancer Charm talisman describes a legend in which a fairy bestowed a sword to a [[HeroOfAnotherStory blind swordsman]], who defeated and sealed way an ancient god of Rot itself. The location of where it was sealed is not known, though it's likely near the Lake of Rot. However, [[LeakingCanOfEvil the Scarlet Rot can still bless Malenia to become its proxy and spread the rot.]]
* ShoutOut: With Gowry's quest being a WholePlotReference to the poem ''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/19/Edward_gorey_insect_god_by_insectgod-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190610003409 Insect God]]'' by Edward Gorey (note that "Gowry" and "Gorey" are spelled the same in Japanese), the Rot's Kindred resembling giant arthropods and its physical form under the Lake of Rot resembling a tailed insectoid (going by the Scorpion's Stinger) is probably also meant as a reference to it.
* UndergroundMonkey: Many minibosses throughout Caelid are familiar enemies reskinned and recolored to reflect their corruption by Scarlet Rot; usually they gain the ability to spread Rot as an attack while gaining a weakness to fire. These creatures usually have the appellation "Putrid" by their name. Notably, even the servants of fellow outer gods aren't immune; Putrid Erdtree Avatars, which serve the Greater Will, exist, and there are a trio of Putrid Crystalians, alien life-forms affiliated with the Dark Moon.
* WeakToFire: The Rot's biggest weakness is that its very, ''very'' weak to fire. Radahn's Lordsworn have put this to good use, wielding torches and flaming weapons, using walls of smoldering stone to stave off the Rot's spread, and even burning an entire ''church'' at the entrance to Limgrave to prevent the Rot from spreading there. They also make use of the Fire Monks' Flame Chariots.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Frenzied Flame]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Flames of Chaos, Yelough
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lord_of_chaos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lord of Chaos, [[TheAntichrist avatar of cleansing]].]]
The migrants of the Great Caravan were never loved by the inhabitants of the Lands Between. Suspicious and hateful of the outsiders, the denizens of the land eventually turned on them ''en masse'', with accusations of wickedness and heresy. Falling upon the Great Caravan, the denizens of the Lands Between destroyed their home and massacred them, culminating in a terrible act of cruelty: thousands of nomads were executed by being BuriedAlive. The few survivors were scattered to the winds. Broken, consumed by despair and hatred, the survivors [[ThenLetMeBeEvil decided to embrace the moniker of heresy they could not escape]]. They called out for something, ''anything,'' to unleash destruction upon the Lands Between in retribution, consequences be damned...\\
\\
...[[GoneHorriblyRight and the Frenzied Flame answered them.]]\\
\\
An outer god associated with madness, knowledge, chaos, eyes, retribution, and the color yellow, the Frenzied Flame forgoes the usual machinations of other outer gods. It does not seek to form cults or establish dominion, though a few worshippers have nevertheless embraced it, pockets of violent madness standing out in an already violent world. The Frenzied Flame's foremost agent to spread its knowledge is Shabriri, the most reviled man in history, who blasphemed against the Golden Order and preached chaos and retribution. Though Shabriri was killed, the Frenzied Flame didn't let him die; he remains, able to BodySurf between corpses by dint of the Flame's power. More dangerous than Shabriri is the Three Fingers -- eerie counterparts to the Greater Will's Two Fingers -- manifested to serve a similar role to the Two Fingers; seek someone with the potential to inherit the will and power of the Flame to become the Lord of Chaos, as a true expression of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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Modern adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, yet they boast an impossible well of knowledge and are occasionally possessed of a disturbingly serene lucidity. One, Hyetta of Liurnia, is being groomed by the followers of the Flame to become a Finger Maiden to the Three Fingers. Hyetta claims that the Frenzied Flame despises the Greater Will for fragmenting an ancient source of life, the "One Great," to create the lesser forms of life -- from humans to animals to plants -- that populate the Lands Between. The Frenzied Flame would see the One Great restored, a wish that necessitates the eradication of all forms of life and the scorching of the entire world by the fires of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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So feared and reviled is the Frenzied Flame and its goal of universal destruction that all who have been uncorrupted by its influence oppose it. Its mortal adherents remained isolated, despised, and shunned, and the Three Fingers were imprisoned in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the Royal Capital, sealed by followers of the Greater Will. Still, the Three Fingers remain there even now, waiting for the one who would free them and become Lord of Chaos.\\
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Should the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] embrace the Three Fingers and become the Lord of Chaos, the Golden Order is supplanted entirely and the Frenzied Flame achieves its goal of bringing its purifying flames to all life that exists, culminating in the '''Lord of Frenzied Flame''' ending.
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* AmbiguousSituation: Its name may or may not be Yelough, which would make it the only Outer God with a name, but it's never given an explicit confirmation. Yelough only appears three times in the whole game, once as the "Eyes of Yelough" plant that appears in locations affected by the Flame of Frenzy, another time in the Yelough Anix Ruins, which has Frenzied Flame worshippers in it, and the nearby Yelough Anix Tunnels, which has nothing to do with the Frenzied Flame in either its design, enemies or boss (who is instead an Astel).
* TheAntiGod: The Frenzied Flame is the closest equivalent to an Anti-Greater Will. Whereas the Greater Will encompasses life, immortality, vegetation and order, the Frenzied Flame represents the end of life, destruction, flame, and chaos, and both employ their own 'Fingers' to choose a vessel to use as a pawn in their schemes. Out of all the Outer Gods at least presently active, the Frenzied Flame and the Greater Will have the most directly antagonistic relation.
* AssimilationPlot: Its most likely end goal. Shabriri and the Frenzied Spirit talk about "incinerat[ing] all that divides and distinguishes" and if Hyetta is given the words of the Three Fingers, she explains that as the Frenzied Flame sees it, all life was once the "One Great" who the Greater Will divided up to make life and souls as humans know them. The Frenzied Flame thinks that this was a mistake that led only to suffering, so it seeks to melt everything back into its original form as the One Great.
* TheBadGuyWins: If the Tarnished inherits the Frenzied Flame, they'll become the Lord of Chaos who will burn the Elden Ring, the Erdtree and likely all life, which -- whatever [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the motives]] might be -- is what the Three Fingers and its master want achieved.
* BodyMotifs: Eyes. The Frenzied Flame inflicts EyeScream on its adherents, but even as they lose their sight, they are filled with knowledge beyond mortal ken -- suggesting that they must lose their sight of the tangible world to gain true knowledge.
* BodyHorror: The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with eyes -- or rather, the lack of eyes. Humans and animals touched by it have their eyes burned out, jets of yellow fire emerging from the empty sockets in their place, and the swollen, pus-filled eyeballs are fed to adherents as "grapes".
* BrownNote: An unusual example; the Fingerprint Stone Shield is heavily implied to be branded by the Three Fingers with its fingerprints, serving as "messages". Getting bashed by this shield causes Madness build up, suggesting the mere act of ''touching'' the fingerprints causes Frenzy to spread onto you.
* ChaosIsEvil: "Evil" might be stretching it for a formless, alien deity, but its goals would certainly result in the death of all living things and its followers are threatening and sinister. The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with chaos, to the point of occasionally being ''known'' as the Flame of Chaos, and Shabriri desires for chaos to take the world. Interestingly, the Frenzied Flame's desire to return life to its primordial state of the One Great gives it some affiliation with the original definition of chaos as well as the modern version.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Even more so than any of the other Outer Gods, openly speading madness, destruction, and corruption.
* TheCorruption: The Frenzied Flame, while less extensively spread than the Scarlet Rot, causes the animals and people that it touches to go insane and infused with the flame itself, and causes unnatural fruits and vegetation like the Eyes of Yelough to grow.
* CrazySane: Adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, sometimes violently so, but also gain tremendous insight and wisdom of ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow.
* DespairEventHorizon: The Frenzied Flame seems drawn to people who cross it and begin to curse the world. The Great Caravan is the most notable example, but Castellan Edgar's questline ends with him infected by it as well, after his desire to avenge his beloved daughter degrades into murdering random travelers. Frenzied Flame incantations are also used by certain Leyndell soldiers on Mt. Gelmir, where the most horrific battle of the Shattering was (and sort of still is being) fought.
* EarnYourBadEnding: The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending is treated as a proper BadEnding, with Melina abandoning the Tarnished and all life [[WorldWreckingWave being scorched by the Frenzied Flame.]] It's also eminently avoidable: the game piles hint upon hint that the Frenzied Flame is bad news, only growing more obvious the closer the player gets to the Three Fingers, culminating in an [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically passionate]] plea from Melina to not pursue this action. Even if the player embraces the Three Fingers, they can purge the Frenzied Flame using Miquella's Needle, meaning that if the ending is achieved, it is certifiably the player's fault.
* {{Expy}}: Of Hastur as the King in Yellow, specifically his depiction in later ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' RPG sourcebooks: a yellow-colored force of entropy from the cosmos who spreads madness to his cult of followers, is empowered by negative human emotion, and takes various avatars to increase its power in the land. The [[https://i.imgur.com/LK67V7q.png Frenzy sigil even looks like the Yellow Sign.]] Note that Hidetaka Miyazaki is a self-admitted fan of ''Call of Cthulhu'', has cited nondescript tabletop [=RPGs=] as one of his main inspirations for ''Elden Ring'', and that one of the locations hosting Frenzy in-game is called the Yelough Anix Ruins.[[note]]Yelough is obviously an alternate spelling of yellow, while "anax" means king in Greek. Yellow King Ruins.[[/note]]
* EvilIsBurningHot: A deity of omnicidal mania that primarily manifests as mind-destroying yellow fire.
* EyeBeams: Most Frenzied Flame incantations involve blasting gouts of flame from your eyes.
* EyeScream: The first symptom of the Frenzied Flame taking hold (aside from murderous insanity), is the eyes growing diseased, swollen, and yellow. Either the eyes fall out intact (or get clawed out by their owners) and become Shabriri Grapes, or just straight up ''burst'' and become Yellow Embers, with the afflicted getting FireballEyeballs in their place. Hyetta eats Shabriri Grapes to feel the 'distant light' (i.e. the Three Fingers), and once she does find it and receives the Three Fingers' wisdom, she says that her eyes are ''melting''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Uniquely the only Outer God that doesn't appear to want one of [[TheChosenOne the Empyreans]] as its vassal, being seemingly content with any host strong enough to not completely lose their mind upon being touched by the flame.
* GoneHorriblyRight: The Frenzied Flame was awakened by the survivors of the Great Caravan. While some of the wandering merchants descended from the Caravan do seem to be adherents and will even use Frenzy abilities if aggroed, others seem to fear the Frenzied Flame just as much as anyone else, with one nomad in Liurnia outright warning the player from approaching the Frenzied Flaming Village to the northeast. It seems these nomads realized something that would kill all life would include ''them'' in the "all life" category.
* LightIsNotGood: The Frenzied Flame, as expected of a god of fire, is heavily associated with light. It's yellow flames can be seen lighting the darkness, and Hyetta refers to a "light behind her eyes" as she is slowly corrupted into serving as its Finger Maiden. Its association with knowledge also fits the trope per the familiar concept of the "light of knowledge". Yet the Frenzied Flame is an OmnicidalManiac which wishes to put all living things to the torch.
* MysticalPlague: The Frenzied Flame is contagious, though to a lesser extent than the Scarlet Rot. The whole point of its various incantations is to spread it to others. In gameplay this just kills them, but whole villages overtaken by the Frenzied Flame can be encountered while traveling, guarded by soldiers with a yellow flame painted on their shields to warn people away from them.
* NothingIsScarier: Like the Scarlet Rot, despite the spread of Frenzy and its madness in certain regions of the Lands Between and how universally reviled its influence is, remarkably little is known about its origin. While it supposedly first appeared to the Great Caravan, there are certain hints such as the existence of Cathedral of the Forsaken suggesting the Frenzy "sprouted" forth from the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers, who served an ancient god supposedly buried in the sacred tomb of frenzy acolytes. Like with Scarlet Rot, it is never made clear what this god is supposed to be -- possibilities include a previous Lord of Chaos or a vassal higher ranked than the Three Fingers, who is never referred to as a god even by frenzy adherents -- or if it is even ''dead''.
* NotQuiteDead: The Cathedral of the Forsaken is heavily implied to be a tomb housing an ancient god who originated the seeds from which Frenzied Flame sprouted forth. But given the Frenzy influnce is very much present and active in the Lands Between ever since the Great Caravan awakened it, this raises serious doubts if the deity is truly dead.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Frenzied Flame plays with this trope. Its flames only exist to [[TheCorruption corrupt all life and the land with Frenzy]], with Shabriri claiming its purpose is [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos to the world]]. However, while its objective certainly involves killing all life, Hyetta claims it actually desires [[AssimilationPlot to melt them all back to their primordial form]], a being who is called "One Great". Thus, while the Frenzied Flame's influence is omnicidal, it isn't necessarily because it wants life itself gone -- simply restored to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality what it considers proper]]. Of course, for all things currently living, the difference is mainly academic.
* PhysicalGod: Apart from the many forms of TheCorruption which Frenzied Flame can cause, the Outer God who originated Frenzy appears to have had a physical manifestation at some point in ancient history, as the Fingerprint Stone Shield found in the Cathedral of the Forsaken explicitly mentions it was part of the tomb of an ancient god. As NothingIsScarier above has explained, the nature of this god is more or less RiddleForTheAges.
* PowerBornOfMadness: As noted, the Frenzied Flame is strongly associated with frenzy, madness, and [[CrazySane insight through insanity]]. The Great Caravan merchants were blessed with the maddening flame when their minds fractured from crossing the DespairEventHorizon, Maidens of the Three Fingers are trained to develop clarity through madness, and incantations of Frenzied Flames involve producing fire through the eyes -- or to be more precise, ''the mind'' -- so much so that a fully realized Lord of Chaos has their heads burn away into a ''sentient ball of flame'', implying their mind is ''literally'' burning with Frenzy.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: While the Flame itself (allegedly) just wants to burn the world back to its primordial state, the people who wield it have usually crossed the DespairEventHorizon and just want to burn the world. This would have been most pronounced in Kalé's cut questline, in which his discovery of the massacre of the Great Caravan led him to beg the player to use the Frenzied Flame they called up to destroy everything, after trying and failing to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil do so himself]] (he reached the Three Fingers but they didn't accept him as a Lord). Hyetta also claims that all of the people who gave her "grapes" felt such despair as to wish they were never born.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: According to Hyetta, the Frenzied Flame believes the Greater Will was mistaken in creating individuality, life and souls in the Lands Between by dividing the One Great, and that it was this action which brought about all suffering, afflictions and curses. Their primary goal is to struggle against the Greater Will and its forces and undo this mistake by [[AssimilationPlot melting everything in the world back as one]].
* RecurringElement: Like the Dark Soul and its followers, most notably Kaathe, in the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, the Frenzied Flame is the antithetical power of the TopGod of the setting (Gwyn and the First Flame in Dark Souls, Marika and the Greater Will in this game) that promises a great change to the world order and to elevate the PlayerCharacter into the lord of the new age - ''un''like the Dark Soul, which was ambiguous in its danger at best, the game doesn't hide that the Frenzied Flame is a purely negative entity and its path is a case of EarnYourBadEnding.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Despite item descriptions saying that it only affects humans, there are also frenzied ''rats'' encountered in and around the Ailing Village and Frenzied Flame Village. Presumably this is because they ate the corpses of frenzied humans (i.e. the same reason rats drop Humanity in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls1'').
* StrawNihilist: Not the Outer God itself, who at least seems to be following a 'higher' purpose in its mass genocide, but its worshippers and servants definetly count. None of them other than Hyetta seem to care about the Frenzied Flame's AssimilationPlot, and are more in it to cause chaos to ravage the world and kill everyone due to a mix of despair-caused madness and nihilism.
* ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: This is the Flame's specialty. The more thoroughly its followers are touched by its madness, the more impossible insight they gain -- culminating in Shabriri bellowing that chaos should take the world and Hyetta asserting that all life is a mistake that needs to be corrected.
* UndergroundMonkey: Several types of enemies have variants that are afflicted with the Frenzied Flame and attack with Frenzied Flame incantations. These include the Cuckoo troops at the Frenzied Flame village and some of the Leyendell Soldiers at Mt. Gelmir.
* UnusualEuphemism: The swollen, chaos-filled eyeballs that its adherents feed to would-be Finger Maidens are euphemistically referred to as "grapes," seemingly because the Eye of Yelough, a corrupted plant touched by the Frenzied Flame, grows grape-like fruits that look similar to human eyes. Hyetta, at least, had no clue what she was actually eating until told by the PlayerCharacter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Formless Mother]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth, The Blood Star
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_mohgwyn_palace_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mohgwyn Palace, lair of her slaves]]
Mohg was one of the children of Marika and Godfrey. Born an Omen, he was hated and despised, sent in shackles to the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital alongside his brother, Morgott. While both brothers eventually escaped the Shunning-Grounds and rejoined society at large, Mohg was not so fast to reconcile as his brother. Going into hiding, Mohg saw the Shattering as an opportunity to seize power and gain dominion over the Lands Between. To do that, he would need the influence of an outer god to challenge the Greater Will -- and so he called upon the Formless Mother.\\
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One of the newer gods to arrive to influence the Lands Between, the Formless Mother, also known as the Mother of Truth, is heavily tied to Mohg and his ambitions. The Mother is, as she is described, a shapeless god without form; she is associated heavily with blood, pain, wounds, murder, violence, and an extremely twisted form of love and affection. Craving agony of her own, the Mother grants power to adherents who injure her; her burning blood emerges from injuries to manifest in the mortal realm, scalding those who earn her followers' ire. Every incantation of the followers of blood is in fact a ritualistic injury inflicted upon their insatiable god. Mohg, the Mother's earthly champion, has been granted burning blood of his own, a "gift" the Formless Mother has also bestowed on his twin brother Morgott -- whether he wants it or not.\\
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Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between.
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* AmbiguousGender: The Formless Mother is the only outer god referred to with gendered pronouns or titles, including in item and incantation descriptions. Still, it's up in the air whether a formless deity that exists outside of space can even ''have'' a gender in the human understanding of the term, and Mohg may simply be projecting onto her.
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** She's implied to have some relation to Omens and their 'accursed blood', but it's not known how much. She chose an Omen as her prime apostle, and Mohg is described to have had his accursed blood set on fire when he encountered her, and the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear describes her as an "outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood." Notably, Morgott's cursed sword also has an effect similiar to Bloodflame, which is an odd standout on his otherwise holy-themed arsenal. It's not known if she's just, in an Outer God's twisted way, sympathetic to the Omens, if she finds their cursed blood just a convenient way to exert her influence, or if she's somehow the ''origin'' of said cursed blood.
** Some members of the Fire Monks wield a type of magic called Thorn Sorcery that summons blood-red barbs and briars from their self-inflicted wounds, the similar motifs (as well as the art's focus on [[CombatSadomasochist self-inflicted suffering]]) strongly imply the "Blood Star" that taught these monks in their dreams is actually the Mother.
* ArcVillain: As she's responsible for bestowing Mohg her power and his dream of reshaping Miquella as his consort. This makes her a [[GreaterScopeVillain greater scope variant]] for Miquella and Malenia's story since as an Outer God she's never dealt with directly. [[OutOfFocus She doesn't have much relevance to Elden Ring's story otherwise.]]
* BadBoss: Potentially to Mohg. He seems to view himself as an ascendant BigBad with the favor of an obedient patron deity, but ''any'' denizen of the Lands Between is at risk of misinterpreting [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the whims of an outer god.]] It's worth noting that Mohg's belief that his patron would resurrect Miquella led to Miquella's death, thus depriving the Greater Will one of its Empyreans, and despite all the HumanSacrifice, Miquella ''still'' hasn't come back.
* BloodMagic: The source of the Blood Oath school of Incantations, which consists of casters ''literally carving into her body and ripping out her veins'' to do things like create sprays of blood that burst into flames or summon swarms of flies. She can also harness the blood of living beings as a medium to manifest her power, and seems to be fond of bloodshed just for bloodshed's sake, giving Mohg a cult which promotes killing in her name. Her followers maim themselves using her blood, and use these injuries to invade and kill other Tarnished in their name and in hers.
* BodyHorror: If you can consider the air around Mohg to be her "body", then he's inflicting this on her constantly. Every spell he uses is caused by quickly mutilating the Mother and using her blood as a weapon.
* CombatSadomasochist: An odd example, as her sadomasochism is used for ''others''' combat. Using any Blood spell is described as causing a wound to the Formless Mother, causing her blood to manifest for the caster to manipulate. The Formless Mother actively ''encourages'' her followers to use her like this.
* CompleteImmortality: Implied. The Formless Mother is technically the only Outer God the players can 'harm' through the use of Blood Oath spells and Mohg's spear, stabbing through a red portal and splashing her blood onto your enemies; of course, she ''craves'' wounds, and is a cosmic beings of such proportions that human-inflicted wounds would never be able to kill her, if such a thing is even possible.
* TheCorruption: A subtler example compared to other Outer Gods, but still present: animals corrupted by her influence grow bloody warts all over their body similiar in appearance but distinct from creatures corrupted by the Scarlet Rot, and causes them to inflict magically-induced bleeding. On humanoids, or at least Albinaurics, her blood corruption causes the skin to turn blood-red and grow small horns on their heads, and allows them to (painfully) channel blood magic with their own bodies. She seems to have an effect on the land as well, as areas influenced by the Bloody Fingers have huge clumps of solid, seemingly coagulated blood ammassed on the ground.
* EvilIsVisceral: A deity associated with cruelty, blood, and murder, the base of operations for her followers is a ''lake'' of bubbling blood led by a grotesque monster with a horn [[EyeScream growing into his eye!]]
* HumanSacrifice: Her followers commit murder to empower themselves and her as well, and Mohg at least believes that with enough sacrifical blood, Miquella will be reborn into a biddable puppet.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The Mother and her followers express love and affection (which, for her followers at least, appears to be genuine in an extremely twisted way) by viciously harming and abusing the targets of their desires. This extends to the Mother herself, who craves wounds and whose followers ecstaticly maim and injure her formless body as a sign of devotion.
* MythologyGag: The Formless Mother is very likely a reference to [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Formless Oedon]]. Other than the similar epithet, they're both eldritch gods heavily associated with blood, both are tied to a slumbering infant god, both are associated with a [[AnimeCatholicism Catholic aesthetic]] (Oedon having chapels dedicated to him, the Formless Mother's main spot of worship being a fortified cathedral), both are the figures of worship of a ReligionOfEvil focused on blood and whose leader aspires to ascend to godhood, and both are completely physically absent from their respective games.
* NonIndicativeName: Her alternate title, the "Mother of Truth". Her adherents are secretive and deceptive, and she herself is implied to be manipulating Mohg.
* OneBadMother: One of the most overtly malevolent deities in the setting is called the "Formless Mother."
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The primary color scheme of a god associated with blood and murder is, you guessed it, red and black.
* {{Sadist}}: Mohg's overtly sexual and very depraved intentions for Miquella color a lot of what we know of the Formless Mother as well. She seems to enjoy receiving wounds, not unlike a real-life masochist, but her followers use her burning blood to maim and kill on her behalf, and seem to take pleasure in doing so. As seen in {{Yandere}} below, adherents of the Formless Mother almost seem incapable of differentiating between cruelty and affection.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As an Omen, Mohg was looked at as a demon and shunned by society. The Formless Mother encouraged him to become the monster that everyone saw him as.
* {{Yandere}}: Both of the major emissaries of the Formless Mother, Mohg and Varre, have a twisted and disturbing obsession with "love," and seem to think that the primary way to show it is through inflicting pain. That the Mother's followers show fealty to her by maiming her, and that she welcomes and even ''craves'' these wounds, indicate that it's a mindset learned from their patron goddess.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The God of the Twinbird]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' Ghostflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/y2dhscj0l4w81.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twimbird]]
Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
\\
After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
----
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various black flames and the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Similar to the Moon, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The [[MonsterProgenitor Twinbird]] that arrived in The Lands Between in ancient times was probably not a "bird" as we understand the concept. Going by associated iconography, it had two heads, black and red feathers and it was ''huge''. If the description of it descending down from the heavens is literal, then [[FantasyAliens it flew through space from another world to get here.]] Somehow it mothered the Deathbirds, these freaky living skeletons that can control the blackflame, despite being the only one of its kind. Most disturbing of all, it has the ability to influence the souls of those who die in The Lands Between and can even control them with its unique powers.
* AnimalMotifs: Heavily associated with birds, especially carrion birds like crows and vultures which are frequently misunderstood scavengers; this ties into the belief that death is a natural part of life. Notably, the Deathbirds look vaguely like grotesque vulture chicks.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Its is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) and the Eclipse Shotel can inflict the crushing Deathblight.
* GodOfTheDead: Described as an God of death, its adepts practice necromancy, used ghostflame and sorcery linked to death and his vassals used to guide the souls of the dead before the era of the erdtree.
* HumanSacrifice: The Sacrificial Axe mentions that sacrificial rituals were part of the cult of the Deathbirds, but does not explore what exactly was sacrificed. The Red and Blue-Feathered Branchsword adds that, at the very least, followers offered themselves in some death rituals, in order to obtain a "glorious end" and give "a death worth offering".
* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
* NotAfraidToDie: Most of the information on the subject indicated that death was considered sacred by the followers of the Deathbirds. They didn't seem to be afraid of dying; quite the contrary, they were willing to embrace their own death in the hope of being resurrected into something better.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The deathbirds are said to guard the ashes of the dead and guide them, and have command over wandering spirits with the power of ghostflame.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Subtle, but the elements are present. The oldest known death worship in the Lands Between (''"In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame."'') came from the Deathbirds, and they were known for burning the remains of the dead with their ghostflame and raking their ashes -- a ''role'' meant to be. Ancient priests who became guardians of these birds also went through the "rite of Death" to mark their oaths, sworn to a distant resurrection -- an oath sworn ''duty''.
* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones and feels cold to the touch.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
\\
At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
\\
In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
\\
Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
\\
Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
[[/folder]]
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga based on H-Games]]
* ''VisualNovel/OtobokuMaidensAreFallingForMe'' started as an H-Game, which is ironic, given how shy Mizuho is in the only slightly ecchi anime.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'', openly -- somewhere around episode 10, an R-15 warning was added to the television broadcast, after which the {{ecchi}} content was upped... occasionally.
* The anime adaptations of the TYPE-MOON adult {{Visual Novel}}s ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' (as ''Shingetsutan Tsukihime'') and ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' with the erotic content mostly toned down. It's noteworthy that sex is actually a mechanic that's important for the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'s magic system. It can be taken out of most routes without too many problems, but the plots of Kohaku's route for ''Tsukihime'' and the Heaven's Feel route of ''Fate/stay night'' involve sexual material much more directly, and require heavy rewriting to not be somewhat nonsensical in their safe-for-work forms. In the [=PS2=] port of ''Fate/stay night'', Heaven's Feel was toned down by [[spoiler:having Sakura drink Shirou's blood (which also provides mana)]], removing all references to sex, and [[spoiler:toning down Shinji's comments regarding Sakura]]. [[Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel The anime films,]] however, [[SubvertedTrope do not]] {{Bowdlerise}} [[SubvertedTrope the story at all,]] to the point where it can be quite uncomfortable viewing.
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' and its related series ''VisualNovel/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever'' have their roots in a ''Triangle Heart'' H-Game, though both {{anime}} series have hardly any scenes of an even vaguely sexual adult nature. There was, however, a hentai {{OVA}} of the ''second'' Triangle Heart game.
* Creator/{{Aquaplus}}, developers of the classic BishoujoGame ''VisualNovel/ToHeart'', initially released its game on the PC under the Leaf label with explicit adult content, but re-released the game for the Platform/PlayStation home console with adult content excised (then re-released ''that'' version on the PC with some more extras), expanding its following dramatically (in conjunction with the release of a clean TV adaptation). With the sequel, ''VisualNovel/ToHeart2'', Leaf reversed the bleaching and released a completely clean original on home consoles, then ''added'' adult content for the PC release, titled ''To Heart 2: X-Rated.'' The anime adaptation of ''To Heart 2'' was clean. And *then* an eroge of ''VisualNovel/ToHeart2'' titled ''To Heart 2: Another Days'' was made by Leaf with new characters, and a clean OVA version was then released.
* LEAF / Aquaplus also produced ''VisualNovel/{{Utawarerumono}}'', initially an adult game. Its huge success lead to an anime and a Platform/PlayStation2 game, both 'clean' to the point of often lacking fanservice (at least of more conventional sorts, though it does occasionally come up). However, the anime, while leaving out the sexual aspects entirely, still left clear points in its plot where the story would have gone in an adult direction. For one thing, it has the harem elements and certain moments that lead up to those aspects left in, but it lacks all the sex. Though anime!Hakuoro plainly says he's single at one point, the only female who hasn't bumped uglies with him in game is, thankfully, his daughter Aruru. The [=PlayStation=] 2 version followed the original, adult game much more closely, to the point of cutting off on the brink of an H-scene then picking up afterwards. Only the original, adult game however, so openly blind-sides the player with the revelation that Dorii and Guraa [[spoiler:[[HoYay are actually male]].]] The others just kinda leave you unsettlingly uncertain.
* Another LEAF work is ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'', which originated with the adult PC game. Later remade for the [=PS3=] with (what is generally regarded as) superior character design. The anime then took the [=PS3=]'s take on things.
* Creator/KeyVisualArts' games ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' and ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'' were originally H-Games, but the anime versions and later releases of the games were clean, and many people thought the hentai actually detracted from the story. (And was oddly placed. See Mai's arc in ''Kanon'', where [[spoiler:they go to the school to fight demons, but take a break to eat supper and do it on the desks.]]) On that note, there's also ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero''.
* The erotic OtomeGame ''Trick or Alice" received an anime adaptation without explicit sex scenes.
* While in the subject of Key/Visual Arts, like Leaf, they also reversed the bleaching with ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters''. Initially released as a clean visual novel with a gripping plot, followed by a manga adaptation, they then re-released it as ''Little Busters! Ecstasy'' as an adult version of the original one (plus extras). The same goes for ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'', except that the unbleached game is a GaidenGame sequel to one of the routes in the original (''Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life''). But then, the Key 10th Anniversary Box edition has an ero-free version of Ecstasy. And then they made a clean anime that is also pretty fanservice-free, too.
* ''VisualNovel/YamiToBoushiToHonNoTabibito'' was based in a H-game, and while the anime still carries plenty of fanservice with lesbians to boot, it is far from being hentai. There is also ''Touka Gettan'', which is distantly related to ''Yami Bou'', that features this trope on two fronts: it's based off of an erotic visual novel that, in turn, is a spin-off of the erotic visual novel/{{Hentai}} series ''Kao No Nai Tsuki''.
* ''VisualNovel/GakuenHeaven'' is a pretty good example of this applied to the BoysLove genre. The original PC game included sex but didn't show any penises. The sequel and the [=PS2=] port both toned down the sex to just suggestion. The anime cleaned things up even further until the original game's ''rapist seme'' was reduced down to sexual harassment by ''elbow licking.'' The manga versions of things keep much closer to the original source material.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'' is based on a series of eroge for the PC, but removing the adult content doesn't impact the mecha/Lovecraft story much.
* Another example is the popular DatingSim ''Literature/{{Sukisho}}''. The [[LoliconAndShotacon Shotacon]], gore, and H scenes aren't present in adaptations from the game (at least not in the anime and {{OVA}}) and was basically toned down from a [[YaoiGenre full-blown Yaoi]] to shounen-ai fluff.
* The hentai game series ''VisualNovel/GreenGreen'' was adapted into an anime that started off pretty clean, but eventually added back in the nudity. It never had the sex of the games until the BonusEpisode 13, which was never licensed in the U.S.
* ''VisualNovel/TheyAreMyNobleMasters'' started as a H-Game, but when the anime came out, it was filled with TONS of {{shout out}}s to different series.
* The twelve-episode series ''VisualNovel/SoulLink'' is based on the game of the same name. The plot is almost the same, some characters were added, but the H is toned down. There is still lots of sexiness and one or two bed scenes.
* ''VisualNovel/PrincessLover'', based on the eroge of the same name from RICOTTA. Most of the elements from the visual novel were kept for the animated adaptation; however, RICOTTA wasn't entirely satisfied with just a broadcast release, thus averted this trope by releasing an H-{{OVA}} for one of their heroines.
* ''VisualNovel/YosugaNoSora'' plays this trope straight with its manga adaptation, but surprisingly averted this with its animated release... ''on broadcast television'', by going the entire way of showing explicit sex scenes at the end of each heroine's arc.
* ''VisualNovel/MagicalCanan'', based on Terios Company's game ''and'' hentai OVA ''Magical '''K'''anan'', are developed by totally different developers (AIC) and have totally different art styles.
%%* ''VideoGame/PrismArk''. Zero Context Example
* ''VideoGame/YoakeMaeYoriRuriiroNa'' originated as an H-Game, but the anime adaptation and [=PS2=] port have the sex scenes removed.
* ''Anime/VariableGeo'' actually provides stronger sexual and violent content than [[VideoGame/AdvancedVariableGeo the game]] it was ''loosely'' based on. However, the original ''Variable Geo'' was a Platform/PC98 game that included explicit sex scenes, as did all the sequels that were made for [=PCs=] rather than consoles. ''[[PornWithoutPlot Variable Geo: NEO]]'' was based on one of the later games and is an alternate continuity, featuring an entirely different cast.
* TheAnimeOfTheGame ''VisualNovel/{{Doukyusei}} 2'' became the first {{Dating Sim}}-based anime to air on Japanese TV in 1998. The TV series was the OAV with the sex scenes edited out.
* ''VisualNovel/AseliaTheEternalTheSpiritOfEternitySword'' was originally an H-game/RPG mix for the PC. Eventually, it was ported to the [=PlayStation=] 2, which doesn't allow adult content. Then it was ported back. So all the references to the sex are there and you can even pinpoint when it happened, you'll just never see it.
* ''Anime/{{Nightwalker}}'' is a very early anime TV series based on an eroge, just barely edged out of the pioneer spot by the adaptation of Doukyuusei 2. While it isn't trying to hide its origins, it is required to meet broadcast standards. Fortunately, with its OtakuOClock airtime that isn't so difficult. The protagonist is a vampire, so it is an easy leap from sex scenes to less explicit KissOfTheVampire scenes.
* The anime adaption of ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts'' still features sex scenes, albeit in a more tasteful PG-13 manner than the original PC visual novel.
* Many are surprised to find that ''VisualNovel/ComicParty'' was based off an H-game, considering the original anime was quite clean (rated PG in most countries) and contained almost no fanservice. (Some of the bonus [=OVAs=] and the sequel ''Revolution'' series do add some brief nudity, but no sex.)
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga -- Other]]
* ''Anime/MezzoForte'' was originally a hentai OVA. Curiously, each of the two ''Mezzo Forte'' episodes only has a single two-minute sex scene -- and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment it's easily edited out without any plot impact]], as was done in some US versions. Japanese contractual obligations to add hentai material, meet overseas distributor underpants bleaching. ''Mezzo Forte'' was not supposed to be porn at first, but the producer bankrolling it believed it was the only way it would make money and forced the team to add in the gratuitous nudity and sex. Basically, the American release was what they had really wanted to do all along (once they found a different publisher). The followup TV series was also non-hentai.
* ''Anime/ProjectAKo'', similar to ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' and ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'', was originally produced as part of the [[{{Lemon}} Cream Lemon]] hentai series, but the producers thought the comedy was too good to be broken up with sex scenes. They left plenty of [[LesYay suggestiveness]] in, though, like a few shots of B-Ko bathing, and '''lots''' of PantyShots.
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'' plays with this trope.
** The work Monkey Punch did for "Playboy School" should be easy to guess (Magazine/{{Playboy}} for reference). And the original Lupin manga weren't much cleaner.
** The ''Anime/LupinIIIPart1'' series was cleaner (but still {{Seinen}}-oriented), and the Anime/LupinIIIYearlySpecials are much LighterAndSofter. But ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine'' was made HotterAndSexier as well as DarkerAndEdgier, in order to align closer to the original manga style.
* ''Anime/DreamHunterRem'' started life as a one-shot hentai OVA. Due to popular demand, this one-shot was re-edited and re-released with a newly made episode as a mainstream title and eventually spawned four sequels.
* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' by Takemaru "Okayado" Inui was based on an online hentai comic titled ''Living with Monster Girl''. He has also made two other series, a one-shot, ''Manga/DeadlineSummoner'' which just lays on the fanservice, and a one-shot, now an ongoing series, ''Manga/TwelveBeast'' which has ''plenty'' of ecchi in-between the over-the-top comedy and the seriousness of war. The one-page comics included with the anime's DVD have [[ProductionThrowback the same style and layout]] of his early H-comics, but with Kimihito and his harem in place of the old characters. In an interview, he also said he would be interested in seeing an H-game based on his most famous creation.
* It should be no surprise to anyone that the ''Anime/{{Iczer}}'' series originally began as a hentai manga, though the underpants aren't quite as bleached as other examples due to the series being OVA's rather than TV series.
* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' is a meta example, as its central concept is a sanitized version of actual {{Host Club}}s. Rather than revolving around expensive alcohol, a party atmosphere, and the possibility of after-hours hanky-panky with the hosts, in ''Ouran'' the Host Club's hosts[[note]][[TokenMiniMoe ultra-cutesy]] Honey; Mori, a [[TheStoic stoic]] GentleGiant; the Hitachiin twins who revel in {{Twincest}}-play; [[FetishizedAbuser aloof and intelligent]] Kyouya; PrincelyYoungMan Tamaki; and [[{{Bifauxnen}} Haruhi]], who is more of an everyman (so to speak)[[/note]] engage the female guests in conversation and light flirting along with food and drink, with each drawing their own audience, and sometimes have {{cosplay}}-themed events.
* The ''Manga/WorldsEndHarem'' [[ThematicSeries manga franchise]] are all drawn by various artists whose main claim to fame is hardcore {{hentai}}. The four manga series have [[{{Ecchi}} plenty of nudity]] but stop short of explicitly depicting sex--''just'' short in the case of ''Manga/WorldsEndHaremFantasia'', which relies on whiting out the genitals.
* ''Manga/BootyRoyaleNeverGoDownWithoutAFight'' has an InUniverse example when AV director Victor Iba tries to break into mainstream filmmaking with a martial arts action-schlock film titled ''Fist of the Tokyo She-Beast'', using a bunch of martial arts-capable idols including main character Haebaru Misora (a gravure model trained in classical karate) to make up most of the cast.
* Kohta Hirano, creator of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', started out writing freelance {{hentai}} featuring characters that eventually became the cast of the aforementioned work. In fact, one of his works, ''Legend of Vampire Hunter'', is identical in plot and character design to the first book of ''Hellsing'' -- except, of course, that the busty police officer is only ''threatened'' with rape in the latter work. Hirano being Hirano, he lampshades this all the time in the author's notes in the first volumes. Other characters used in previous hentai titles that were roped into the Hellsing series; Alexander Anderson from the short comic ''Angel Dust'', Pip Bernadotte and the Major from ''Coyote'', Doc and Schrödinger from ''Doc's Story'', Renaldo from ''Magic School'' and the Captain from ''Desert Guardian''. One of Anderson's many nicknames is "Angel Dust Anderson".
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comedy]]
* Creator/PaulReubens's Pee-Wee Herman was a stand-up character for adult comedy nightclubs and his playhouse show played out like a kids' show with adult humor (the type that is more R-rated, not PG-rated, as seen in many animated films and TV shows). One of his routines involved him and his friend Hammy wearing shoe mirrors to see up Hammy's sister's dress. Hammy's sister catches them trying to look up her dress, then tells them the joke is on them because she's not wearing any panties.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Ben Dunn, author of the manga-esque ''Ninja High School'', at the same time wrote a satirical adult series entitled ''NOT Ninja High School''. One of the unique things about ''NOT Ninja High School'' is that several artists from regular Ninja High School projects did stories. Artists who've done Not NHS stories include Bob [=DeJesus=], Takeshi Suzuki and [[ComicBook/GoldDigger Fred Perry]].
* The assistant artist of ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' made some RuleThirtyFour of the female members of ''Scott Pilgrim''. Bryan Lee O'Malley was fine with it since his comic already had its share of sex scenes.
* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' grew out of Adam Warren being forced by financial difficulties to turn to the questionable but lucrative market of superhero-themed bondage pin-ups. Gradually, he found the single images developing into longer gag strips, and finally a full-blown comic series with fleshed-out characters. (Although while it doesn't have any graphic nudity or hardcore images, the comic still has strong erotica and sex-comedy elements.)
* Creator/StjepanSejic once posted [[https://www.deviantart.com/nebezial/art/i-never-stood-a-chance-true-story-XD-418443369 a safe-for-work sketch]] of his favourite bondage themed characters and drew himself in, jokingly wondering if he was a fetishist or a comic artist first. He's fairly free with both male and female fanservice, and in his creator-owned comics has some characters with a few out there kinks, but makes it clear that it's SafeSaneAndConsensual.
* ''Magazine/NickelodeonMagazine'' featured a comic strip titled ''ComicBook/PattyCake'' that was written by Scott Roberts and first appeared in the magazine in 1998, but the series actually began as a comic book distributed by Permanent Press that began publication in 1994. The pre-''Nickelodeon Magazine'' comics were more adult, featuring occasional profanity and mature humor.
* Gigi Dutreix, an artist and writer [[PromotedFanboy who works]] on ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'', and also is notable for their ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fan comic ''Webcomic/TheMurderOfMe'', draws kink art and pornographic art, even of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' and ''The Murder of Me''. There's a good reason they use a pseudonym for this sort of activity.
* A non-sexual example, ''The Phoenix'' features a comic strip called Looshkin, featuring [[[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife the titular blue cat]] and [[LivingToys a living teddy bear named]] Bear. The strip features a lot of slapstick and SurrealHumour. The original incarnation, the 2003-2005 AlternativeComics series ''Bear'', had that but also included swearing and stronger violence, so it was aimed at adults.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* The fangame ''VideoGame/NanacaCrash'' borrows characters from the HGame ''VisualNovel/CrossChannel''. This later inspired ''VideoGame/KatawaCrash'', which borrows characters from ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', which in turn also contains some erotic scenes.
* The original of the Caramelldansen meme features a short dance loop from the H-Game ''Popotan'', set to the Swedish pop-song of the same title.
%% * The character Suzuran from the H-Game ''Suigetsu'' appeared on ImageBoards so many times with the catchphrase "Waha!" that people took to calling her Waha instead.
* ''Fanfic/{{Hivefled}}'' is a complex, plot-driven AlternateUniverseFic. The KinkMeme fic it originated from, ''Reprise'', was basically just horrible torture-rape.
* A {{Cosplay}} example happens with the {{Hentai}} [[PornWithPlot with Plot]] ''Bible Black''. While the visual novels and their anime adaptations are clearly {{NSFW}}, the female high school uniform became so popular in the TurnOfTheMillennium that many cosplayers still wear that uniform in events today and even cosplay some major characters like {{Hot Teacher}}s Reika Kitami and Hiroko Takashiro, all without showing any of the H-content.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The 1975 horror film ''Forced Entry'' was a loose remake of a 1973 porno of the same name.
* In the 1970s and 1980s it was not uncommon for porn films to have second versions released to mainstream theatres with sex scenes either removed or toned down. Examples include Cafe Flesh and Dixie Ray, Hollywood Star (the latter actually having an actual well-known film and TV actor, Cameron Mitchell, in a supporting - but non-sexual - role). Averted with the infamous ''Deep Throat'', which was released uncensored (since an R-rated cut would have been pointless). Since the 1980s it has been commonplace for some of the higher-budgeted porn films to shoot sex scenes with a second camera, or restage them altogether, to allow versions of the films to be shown on cable or released to video where hardcore is illegal. Such productions regularly appear today on networks like Cinemax.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'': In ''Death by Pantyhose'', Vic Cleveland, the book's victim, was blackmailing [[spoiler:Reagan Dixon]] into aiding his stand-up career with the [[spoiler:porno film she]] did in [[spoiler:her]] past.
* A significantly downplayed version of this, the titular character ''Literature/MissBindergarten'' from the children's book series aimed at younger children. Started out as drawings on mature-orientated (but not explicit) birthday cards for teens and young adults.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', episode "[[Recap/ColumboS10E02 Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health]]": InUniverse. Wade Anders, the host of a prime-time true crime series, has a secret past as a porn actor, performing with an underaged co-star to boot. When professional rival Budd Clarke tries to blackmail Wade with this information, Wade kills him.
* Explicit series being made for pay cable sometimes simultaneously film tamer versions without swearing and sex for broadcast and other more restrictive venues.
** When ''Series/TheSopranos'' was being produced, they made sure to be prepared to bleach their own underpants for syndication. They would frequently record alternate versions of scenes where a nude character (often the strippers in the club) would be in bikinis or lingerie, and occasionally a scene would be recorded with softer dialogue to avoid HongKongDub later.
** ''Series/DreamOn'', much like ''The Sopranos'', had nude scenes with alternate takes wearing underwear for broadcast syndication (it also briefly aired on the Fox network).
** ''Series/EmmanuelleInSpace'', a 1990s sci-fi softcore series (loosely based on the movies) that became something of an OldShame when its star, Creator/KristaAllen, began to gain popularity through more mainstream fare like ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'', was reportedly devised to air in both cable and syndicated TV versions, with presumably the syndicated versions being markedly different. There is no indication they ever bothered actually trying to syndicate it, however.
* A frequently used theme song for children's TV shows in TheSeventies was Music/JohnBarry's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUTsS8-vukw "Florida Fantasy"]], from the decidedly family-unfriendly ''Film/MidnightCowboy''.
* Inverted by Creator/MaitlandWard, who after a two-decade mainstream acting career and appearing in series like ''Series/TheBoldAndTheBeautiful'' and ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' transitioned to the porn industry, mainly in the "MILF" niche due to her age.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Manga]]
%% * Takumi Kobayashi is the author of ''Virgin na Kankei''. But seeing the content of the mentioned manga, you definitely can't be surprised.
* As if the ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' examples weren't enough, the creator of ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'' bleached three more characters from Kohta Hirano's hentai manga: Nina, admittedly wasn't bleached much (she went from a catgirl that had sex with Hitler to a succubus that switched bodies with Schrodinger and then fought Alucard), but the characters Natalie and Pip (the prototype for Hellsing's Pip Bernadette) from the hentai manga ''Coyote'' were lightened up, the only signs of the hentai background being a scene where Natalie is chained up. [[spoiler:They turn out to be Pip's grandparents.]]
* The ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' manga replaces the IntimateHealing scene between Saber and Shirou with a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Jackie Wilson and [=LaVern=] Baker recorded [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4hSdSTVSMI an X-rated version of their duet "Think Twice"]] as a piss take during the recording sessions for that single, and later turned up on bootlegs and specialty compilations.
* The [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]]-[[CoveredUp popularized song]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2P68iML-VM "Mah Na Mah Na"]] originated in the score for ''Film/SwedenHeavenAndHell'', an Italian {{mondo}} documentary exploring lesbian nightclubs, porn films, swinging lifestyle of married couples and sex education of teenagers. The song itself accompanied several giggling girls into a sauna.
* The theme song for ''Series/ThePeoplesCourt'' apparently started out as a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3jyxiJmFqM porno groove.]]
* The iconic "ColonelBogeyMarch" featured in ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'' is a complicated example, as it didn't originally have lyrics when it was composed during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI--but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Has_Only_Got_One_Ball the lyrics that soldiers would've sung]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, when ''River Kwai'' takes place, were deemed too crude to include in the movie. This makes the song an example of both WithLyrics and ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics at once!
* Music/LittleRichard's original lyrics to "Tutti Frutti" contained unacceptable levels of swearing and sexual innuendo (being a pretty transparent reference to [[HoYay gay anal sex]]) for contemporary radio broadcast, so songwriter Dorothy [=LaBostrie=] was brought in to hurriedly write new, clean, lyrics.
* Music/JohnLennon wrote a song titled "Maharishi", full of swearing as TheDissTrack on said Indian guru who disappointed him. The version recorded by Music/TheBeatles in Music/TheWhiteAlbum might have a dirtier title in "Sexy Sadie", but its language is cleaner and some lyrics are more vague if still bitter because Music/GeorgeHarrison asked Lennon so.
* The original version of the song "Blind Dance" by Music/VioletUK is 18 minutes long, a [[QuirkyWork near ethereal]] GothicMetal IntercourseWithYou song centering around IntercourseWithYou and the protagonist being a submissive in BDSM, and containing TheImmodestOrgasm combined with ClusterFBomb. The commercial/radio edit version barely clocks in at 4 minutes (if that) and is an ambient sound/electronic ApocalypticLog with some bits of the drums and orchestra from the original thrown in. Both actually are good, but they aren't even the same song despite the name.
* Anthony Kiedis of Music/RedHotChiliPeppers used to rap obscene, sexually explicit lyrics, but no longer does, preferring to sing more romantic material. He will still do some of the older songs such as 'Sir Psycho Sexy' live, but has avoided doing many of the previous ones out of shame.
* Music/TheBlackEyedPeas re-wrote "Let's Get Retarded", a song from their 2003 album ''Elephunk'', as "Let's Get It Started" to serve as a promo song for television coverage of the 2004 NBA Playoffs. Guess which version ended up becoming a [[BreakawayPopHit bigger hit...]]
* The nursery rhyme ''Eeny, meeny, miny, moe'' has gone through some rather lurid incarnations over the past centuries, before being re-{{Bowdlerise}}d in the late twentieth century. The version that appeared in work by Creator/RudyardKipling and in ''Film/PulpFiction'', among others, doesn't use the word "tiger" (or "beggar" as it's bowdlerised in Britain, or "sailor" as in the American release of ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets''). The use of the version of the rhyme that has the N-word instead of tiger is an OldShame for ''Series/DoctorWho'' in that it appears in dialogue in an episode of the 1960s story, ''The Celestial Toymaker''. The episode in question is presently lost, however audio survives, and thus far official commercial releases of the audio have obfuscated this part of the soundtrack to avoid controversy.
* It's somewhat common for 19th-century music by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Foster Stephen Foster]] (like "Camptown Races" and "Oh! Susanna") and others to appear described as "Early American Songs" and are treated today as popular children's songs in the United States, without any reference to the uncomfortable reality that many of the songs were composed for use in {{Blackface}} MinstrelShows. Many of the originals also contained overtly racist language, which is quietly {{Bowdlerized}} these days.
* Goldo's OneHitWonder "Boom-Da-Boom" is mainly known for the version that describes the narrator being in a dream involving various Disney characters (and ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', for some reason). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtiWlaRMmPo The original version]] was about the narrator getting involved in a high-speed chase-turned-fight which goes FromBadToWorse when someone pulls out an AK-47.
* The song "Baby Shark" was originally [[https://theweek.com/articles/813561/baby-shark-once-wildly-inappropriate-children darker]] than the version most kids are familiar with - the original lyrics had the sharks attacking and killing a swimmer.
* The ABC song and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" have a tune that was originally used for a French song about a woman who was shunned for losing her virginity.
* The song "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" was based on a similar song called "Shew Fly" which was sung from the perspective of a slave (the line "For I belong to somebody" was originally "For I belong to Company G") and even had him use the N-word to describe himself.
* The traditional Americana song "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" is almost always performed without the final verse. Most of the song describes a hobo yearning for a place, a fabled paradise known as the Big Rock Candy Mountain, where he could live a life of ease without labour. The final verse is about a homeless teen telling off the man, accusing him of wanting to sexually abuse him.
* Music/KlausSchulze's album ''Body Love'' and its sequel album began as the score to a pornographic film of the same name.
* The hymn "What Child Is This?" (among other Christmas and New Year texts) is set to the tune of "Greensleeves", which is usually interpreted as either a song about a promiscuous young woman or a prostitute, or a song about a woman being ''mistaken'' for one of these things.
* Few hentai[[{{Grindcore}} grind]] bands such as Aloys Fudanshi abandoned the hentai side of things and switched to regular {{Grindcore}}, blackened DeathMetal and powerviolence from ''Alive'' onwards.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* A fair number of {{professional wrestl|ing}}ers in Wrestling/{{WWE}} have gotten their undies bleached, sometimes as a result of a HeelFaceTurn but more generally because WWE has in recent years attempted to become more family-friendly. The most notable of these is John Cena, who rose to fame as a heel that belittled his opponents through R-Rated rap promos. Within record time, Cena was PG-ized by the WWE when they saw his popularity and has gone full-tilt towards erasing any edginess about Cena in favor for a G-Rated version of Cena that they could shill to children. On the Divas side, Mickie James (who did several nude photoshoots before becoming a WWE wrestler) and Kelly Kelly, who started out with fairly perverted gimmicks (PsychoLesbian and "extreme exhibitionist," respectively) before being converted to generic Divas.
* Subverted with wrestler Steve Austin, who credits his brief tenure in ECW for serving as a test run for his revamp into Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. Meanwhile Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}, who for a time called himself [[TheArtifact "The Rated-R Superstar"]] reverted back to his wacky evil gimmick of the early 00s rather than simply being neutered.
* Inverted (given it's for something after wrestling) with Wrestling/{{Chyna}}. ''[[VideoGame/{{WWE}} WWE '13]]'' retells the story of the Wrestling/AttitudeEra [[UnPerson without listing her]]. It's either due to a personal feud with Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon (who among other things married [[Wrestling/TripleH her ex]]), or Chyna starting a career as a porn actress. This was WWE's general stance towards Chyna and her legacy, often downplaying her in retrospectives or pretending she never existed, all the way from her tumultuous exit in 2001 until her untimely death. Since then, she has been looked at with more respect from WWE and even got a posthumous Hall of Fame induction along with the other members of D-Generation X.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Toys]]
* Why does Franchise/{{Barbie}} -- an American children's doll -- have huge boobs? Because she's based on "Bild Lilli", a doll marketed to adult men in Germany. Lilli herself originated as a bawdy character in a German comic strip in the 1950s.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', as it was originally going to be a family-friendly game like its predecessor, ''VideoGame/ConkersPocketTales'', but Rareware decided to tone it very higher.
* The PornWithPlot {{RPG}} ''Dragon Knight 4'' was ported to the SNES and [=PlayStation=] with all the {{Optional Sexual Encounter}}s removed.
* Creator/{{Enix}}, the company behind ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', got its start making computer games. Namely, one of their earliest games involved saving a girl from knives being thrown at her, and the girl stripping as a reward. The game that followed? [[NoYay Stripping little girls...]]
* ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' originally had sexual content in ''Duel Savior Justice'', but it later received a clean release that turned most of the sex scenes into something far more PG, [[SexyDiscretionShot faded to black on others]] and replaced the harem route with one focused around the princess character from the original game who did not originally have a route. In order to do so, she gets dragged along to a number of scenes that were clearly originally written without her presence, making her rather stand out.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has a lot of character designs (Including Pyra and Mythra) being from old hentai artists including CHOCO himself. CHOCO returns to do the designs of KOS-MOS and T-Elos as well as Praxis and Theory, who are entirely new characters. Praxis' character design makes CHOCO's origins as a H-Game artist obvious.
* ''VideoGame/ScarletBlade'' is already a risque piece of work; but it turns out that freecree, the CG artist, was simply using cropped versions of his much more risque versions of his artwork and has put them shamelessly on display.
* Creator/DataEast began its line of billiards games with a clean UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame titled ''Side Pocket''. However, all the (likewise clean) console releases of ''Side Pocket'', not counting the NumberedSequels, were based either on the nudity-enhanced update ''Pocket Gal'' or its sequel ''Pocket Gal Deluxe''.
* The Japanese video game company Custom developed five games, four of which were released with an adults-only rating for the Platform/PC98 and other computers. The fifth was ''Chip-Chan Kick'', a PC-FX exclusive and the only starring appearance of the company's mascot girl.
* Several minor Japanese UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame makers managed to keep themselves going for many years by producing sequels to strip mahjong or similar softcore casual games, apparently to pay the rents while scrounging up the time. Examples include Creator/{{Jaleco}}'s ''Idol Janshi Suchie-Pai'' series, Kaneko's ''Gals Panic'' series, Seta's ''VideoGame/SuperRealMahjong'' series, and Creator/{{Psikyo}}'s ''Taisen Hot Gimmick'' series, each of which included at least one clean console version. (Additionally, in latter's case, the arcade version can be set in the service mode to run in "clean" mode.) Creator/{{Toaplan}} produced three strip mahjong games for no better reason than that the company was young and needed the money; only one of their later arcade games (''Pipi & Bibis'', also known as ''Whoopee!!'') had any nudity.
* Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''Puzznic'' had one version exclusive to Japanese arcades that rewarded level completion with topless girlie pictures. The PC-98 port replaced them with clothed anime girls, while many other versions, including all home versions, had no girls at all.
* ''Kimihagu'' was originally an 18+ HGame for the PC (in Japan only). Six years later, however, it received a 17+ port for the iPhone [[NoExportForYou (still in Japan only)]].
* The maid training simulator/VirtualPaperDoll HGame ''Custom Order Maid 3D 2'' received a clean 12+ release titled ''Custom Order Maid 3D 2: It's A Night Magic''. There's also ''Custom Cast'', an all ages mobile app version of just the character creator intended for Vtubers which also has an option to create male characters, unlike the original (without mods, at least).
** Similarly the eroge ''Koikatsu'' also has an all ages character creator-only version called ''Vkatsu'' meant for Vtubers. A clean version of the game called ''Koikatsu Party'' also received a worldwide release.
* Ironically, despite having a more risque ''premise'' (you're trying to build a camgirl business), ''VideoGame/HunieCamStudio'' is this trope compared to its predecessor ''VideoGame/HuniePop''. It is a BusinessSim that doesn't show anything particularly pornographic, compared to ''VideoGame/HuniePop'''s DatingSim that was very fanservice heavy and featured actual porn in the adult version. It's arguable as to whether or not this was responsible for ''[=HunieCamStudio=]'' flopping, but the [[VideoGame/HuniePop2 next game]] from the company, a direct sequel to ''[=HuniePop=]'', went back to being fully X-rated.
* In ''VideoGame/{{IMGCM}}'', Studio [=MGCM=] has made two versions released simultaneously: The [[{{NSFW}} DX version]] and the regular version. The regular version of said game has all [[{{hentai}} pornographic scenes and dialogues]] from the DX version removed and some of them are replaced with scenes that makes sense for general audiences. However, this game still has some FanService, {{Stripperiffic}} dresses, SexComedy, LesYay subtexts, and {{visual innuendo}}s that include some [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Demon Realm plants and critters that look like women's breasts, male sex organs, etc.]], but it's still relatively clean. Because of this, all the main story scenes, dreams scenes, hallucinations, VisionsOfAnotherSelf and {{imagine spot}}s, that are exclusively available in the DX version, [[TakeOurWordForIt are left to players' imaginations.]]
* Lilith's ''Taimanin'' franchise is a PornWithPlot Visual Novel series, (in)famous for each of its {{Action Girl}}s getting into various sexual situations. Come 2019, a HackAndSlash game, aptly named ''VideoGame/ActionTaimanin'' debuted, which aims to show what the titular Taimanin are really capable of in their line of work, even getting a Steam release.
* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' first came into the world in late 2011 as a teenager whose favorite things were looking up porn on his laptop and video games. Even before Omocat cancelled the graphic novel in favour of making the eponymous game, the ''Omori's Story'' one-shot lacked any trace of sexual content in favour of Omori spending a fun day out of White Space with his friends - and by the time the announcement trailer was released in 2014, she had aged him down to a preteen and laid the final nail in the coffin for any explicit elements.
* Creator/PopCapGames, the company behind ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'', ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'', ''{{VideoGame/Peggle}}'', among other games, started under the name of "Sexy Action Cool", and its first title was a StripPoker game called "Foxy Poker", which served as a revenue stream for their future titles.
* Ever since they made ''Franchise/AngryBirds'', Creator/RovioEntertainment's work has steered towards LighterAndSofter to the point that people only familiar with Rovio's post-''Angry Birds'' work might be shocked to find out just how many of their earlier titles were DarkerAndEdgier, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3zrzfxvdV0 this showreel]] from 2006 proves:
** The ''Darkest Fear'' trilogy, a series of three ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''-esque survival horror titles.
** Several war-themed games such as the ''War Diary'' trilogy, ''Desert Sniper'' and ''Marine Sniper''.
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHLXNiciGSM Patron Angel]]'', a vertical shooter in which a guardian angel [[OurAngelsAreDifferent who looks like a sexy model]] must protect a young boy from demons by ''shooting at them''.
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQNm0Sn2oyg Paid to Kill]]'', a ThirdPersonShooter revolving around a bounty hunter named Ramon Spectre who according to the official synopsis is "coming to collect".
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlJV0P5CAI0 Cyber Blood]]'', a violent and bloody third-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic CrapsackWorld.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts'' received the usual removal of sex scenes when it was ported to Dreamcast and [=PS2=], but also has one particular ending replaced in the ports. [[spoiler:Said ending involved the protagonist getting kidnapped by his love interest, forced to undergo hormonal replacement therapy, and sexually assaulted. The ports replaced this with a more run-of-the-mill happy ending.]]
* ''VisualNovel/AtomGrrrl'' was released for Steam with the majority of the yuri left implied, though Big E's [[spoiler:"weapon"]] was left uncensored.
* The remake of ''VisualNovel/KikokugaiTheCyberSlayer'' removes the explicit sex, presumably opening the novel up to a new audience nine years later.
* In an interesting aversion, ''VisualNovel/Norn9'' has scenes that look like this and cuts to black before the characters actually have sex...but the only releases have been all-ages, meaning there never were any sex scenes to remove to begin with.
* The remake of ''VisualNovel/YuNo'' predictably cut the sex scenes, but it's still very obvious what happened. This was also averted on its first console port - the Sega Saturn - due to the Saturn performing so poorly Sega allowed them in a fit of desperation.
* Subverted in ''Franchise/MuvLuv'''s non-erotic versions, where they get away with as much as they possibly can, either fading to black at the very last possible moment or ''showing the scene anyway'' but the [=CGs=] cropped and the most explicit bits cut out. It's notably ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' that does the latter, which is understandable given that its content is definitely not meant for anyone who couldn't handle seeing sex and is more to appease the rating systems.
* ''VisualNovel/PhantomThiefSilverCat'': As per Steam's regulations, the commercial release features censored imagery (save for a couple of oversights), though dialogue makes it clear what's happening in every scene regardless.
* This shows up InUniverse in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''. Keiichi understands that his father is a landscape artist, but it's implied during a business party that at least some of his commercial success has come from {{Doujinshi}} products in which the subjects keep their socks on.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Wendy'', one of Jackie Lesnick's best remembered characters (or character templates) began as the focal character of ''The Wendy Project'', a site showcasing tons of pinups of Wendy and her friends ([[OldShame which, according to the artist's retrospective, were rather badly drawn]]). The characters would eventually star in the increasingly more wholesome comic bearing Wendy's name, and Wendy's character design was later reused in the filler series ''Cute Wendy'', which became a runaway success and spawned its own sequel/spinoff ''Webcomic/{{Girly}}''. Despite the OldShame involved, Jackie has continued to produce short pornographic comics on her ''Slipshine'' subscription service to this day, some of which still feature Wendy prominently, although slightly better drawn now.
* Before the webcomic got its start, ''Webcomic/LasLindas'' artist Chalo had a number of pictures of Mora in some rather NSFW situations. Once the comic became popular, the pics were eventually deleted from his art pages, though they occasionally still pop up from time to time on imageboards. The move is somewhat ironic, given the {{Fanservice}}-heavy nature of the comic and that Mora has since been shown and implied to have had sex multiple times throughout, not to mention that Chalo does still occasionally post NSFW art of his characters on his social media accounts.
* Happens InUniverse in ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo''. Izzy makes an HGame centered around catching fish girls and then having sex with them. The developers later end up adapting it into a kid-friendly cartoon and related line of merchandise, despite her protests that the MoralGuardians will come after her for it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPPfs7ZCAQc Loud Nigra,]] one of the most widely used {{Stock Scream}}s in Website/YouTube comedy videos starting in the late 2010s, is originally from a pornographic video. Initially, it was used on [[YouTubePoop YTPs]] parodying porn or TheImmodestOrgasm, but later became a stock response for something really scary or [[ScreamingAtSquick disgusting]], or as a funny DeathWail.
* Suzi Hunter, the host of [[https://www.youtube.com/c/TheSphereHunter The Sphere Hunter,]] a Website/YouTube series dedicated to reviewing and analyzing SurvivalHorror games, is a trans woman who had been a pornographic actress during her transition. While she is open about being trans, she does not like to talk about her past as a sex worker, seeing it as a dark period in her life.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DeadEndParanormalPark'' is based on ''Webcomic/{{Deadendia}}'' [[RecursiveAdaptation in turn]] based on ''WebAnimation/DeadEnd''. The former iterations have plenty of raunchy sex jokes and in the case of ''Deadendia'' even guest participations by porn artists, but the Netflix show has been largely purged of that and doesn't really have anything objectionable for kids [[BannedInChina barring homophobic countries banning the show]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', whose early seasons already straddled the line between content suitable for Creator/CartoonNetwork and its nighttime sibling Creator/AdultSwim, is based on two student films creator J.G. Quintel did when he was in college for animation. One is "The Naive Man from Lolliland," which, aside from a single use of the word "hell," isn't considered all that raunchy. "WebAnimation/TwoInTheAMPM," however, contains explicit swearing and references to drug abuse, with the entire premise surrounding two clerks eating candy laced with LSD during the night shift and tripping out.
* The TV series ''WesternAnimation/OhNoItsAnAlienInvasion'' is based on a short called ''Oh Shit!''.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' is already a pretty crude show, but it's based off of an even cruder short Justin Roiland did for ''Website/Channel101'' called ''The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti'', a ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' parody where the solution to literally every problem the main characters encounter is for Mharti to lick Doc's balls. Yes, each instance of this was fully (if crudely) animated.
* ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'' originally premiered in a short called ''Whoopass Stew!'', where Professor Utonium created the "Whoopass Girls" by accidentally adding a literal can of whoopass to his concoction instead of Chemical X. It was DarkerAndEdgier in general, including having the girls kill their enemies instead of just beating them up.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' was a decidedly kid-friendly television series, which originated out of a much darker and more violent [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage comic series]], which continued on separately with its own tone being different than that of the cartoons.
** On the topic of ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', guest character [[KillerRabbit Miyamoto Usagi]] who appeared in various animated incarnations of TMNT. Also originated from a much [[ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo darker and violent comic series]], [[MatureAnimalStory with the tone being more serious, notably lacking the aforementioned series' campy tone, and acknowledging sex (although the comic has zero sex scenes), or for that matter sexism in feudal Japan.]]
* The short-lived Nickelodeon series ''WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}'' is loosely based on Creator/DougTenNapel's comic book series ''ComicBook/{{Gear}}''. Unlike ''Catscratch'', ''Gear'' has a very GrimDark tone that involves characters killing each other in extremely violent ways (mainly inside giant robots), strong and explict religious themes and allegories, and strong language. Nick decided to overhaul the universe of ''Gear'' by giving it a LighterAndSofter and [[DenserAndWackier humorous tone]] and [[AdaptationalPersonalityChange changing the characters personalities]].
* In its concept stages, ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' started off as a more mature BlackComedy. Evidenced by that it originally took place explicitly in {{Main/Hell}}, with the titular main character being sent there after being killed by a bus ramming him over, and also by the fact that Heloise was the spirit of a [[SerialKiller Serial Killer]] and that Lucius was the [[{{Satan}} Devil]] - on top of the fact that some of the surfaced concept art show gore (most prominently, [[https://lostmediawiki.com/w/images/f/fb/DeadJimmy.jpg this one]]). [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerization]] eventually came in once Creator/DisneyXD got a hold of the show. Somewhat downplayed in that this original version of the show wasn't really for adults as it was for tweens/teens.
* The rejected Creator/CartoonNetwork pilot ''Bottom's Butte'' was originally planned as an adult cartoon called ''Bottoms Up'', with the storyboard for the pilot's original draft "Woman in Heat" being about Peanette trying to help Beverly get laid (the two hooking up with a pair of twin brothers who are anthropomorphic cigarettes) and ending with Beverly [[NakedPeopleAreFunny naked]].
* ''WesternAnimation/ToxicCrusaders'' was a family-friendly cartoon that's liberally adapted from the ''Film/ToxicAvenger'' films, which are ''far'' more violent, gory and sexualized. Pretty much the only elements that were kept are the gross-out mutations, although there are [[ParentalBonus some adult jokes sneaked in the witty dialogue]].
* The UK kids series ''WesternAnimation/{{Dodo}}'' is based on the short film ''Not the End of the World'' which has main character Joe sleeping naked, popular girl Molly smoking and Joe's friend mentioning he heard that Molly let a guy touch her boob. Though the series still has some dirty jokes that only adults and older kids will get.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Other]]
* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna "Lenna" test image]] is a cropped version of a Playboy centerfold.
[[/folder]]
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga based on H-Games]]
* ''VisualNovel/OtobokuMaidensAreFallingForMe'' started as an H-Game, which is ironic, given how shy Mizuho is in the only slightly ecchi anime.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'', openly -- somewhere around episode 10, an R-15 warning was added to the television broadcast, after which the {{ecchi}} content was upped... occasionally.
* The anime adaptations of the TYPE-MOON adult {{Visual Novel}}s ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' (as ''Shingetsutan Tsukihime'') and ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' with the erotic content mostly toned down. It's noteworthy that sex is actually a mechanic that's important for the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'s magic system. It can be taken out of most routes without too many problems, but the plots of Kohaku's route for ''Tsukihime'' and the Heaven's Feel route of ''Fate/stay night'' involve sexual material much more directly, and require heavy rewriting to not be somewhat nonsensical in their safe-for-work forms. In the [=PS2=] port of ''Fate/stay night'', Heaven's Feel was toned down by [[spoiler:having Sakura drink Shirou's blood (which also provides mana)]], removing all references to sex, and [[spoiler:toning down Shinji's comments regarding Sakura]]. [[Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel The anime films,]] however, [[SubvertedTrope do not]] {{Bowdlerise}} [[SubvertedTrope the story at all,]] to the point where it can be quite uncomfortable viewing.
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' and its related series ''VisualNovel/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever'' have their roots in a ''Triangle Heart'' H-Game, though both {{anime}} series have hardly any scenes of an even vaguely sexual adult nature. There was, however, a hentai {{OVA}} of the ''second'' Triangle Heart game.
* Creator/{{Aquaplus}}, developers of the classic BishoujoGame ''VisualNovel/ToHeart'', initially released its game on the PC under the Leaf label with explicit adult content, but re-released the game for the Platform/PlayStation home console with adult content excised (then re-released ''that'' version on the PC with some more extras), expanding its following dramatically (in conjunction with the release of a clean TV adaptation). With the sequel, ''VisualNovel/ToHeart2'', Leaf reversed the bleaching and released a completely clean original on home consoles, then ''added'' adult content for the PC release, titled ''To Heart 2: X-Rated.'' The anime adaptation of ''To Heart 2'' was clean. And *then* an eroge of ''VisualNovel/ToHeart2'' titled ''To Heart 2: Another Days'' was made by Leaf with new characters, and a clean OVA version was then released.
* LEAF / Aquaplus also produced ''VisualNovel/{{Utawarerumono}}'', initially an adult game. Its huge success lead to an anime and a Platform/PlayStation2 game, both 'clean' to the point of often lacking fanservice (at least of more conventional sorts, though it does occasionally come up). However, the anime, while leaving out the sexual aspects entirely, still left clear points in its plot where the story would have gone in an adult direction. For one thing, it has the harem elements and certain moments that lead up to those aspects left in, but it lacks all the sex. Though anime!Hakuoro plainly says he's single at one point, the only female who hasn't bumped uglies with him in game is, thankfully, his daughter Aruru. The [=PlayStation=] 2 version followed the original, adult game much more closely, to the point of cutting off on the brink of an H-scene then picking up afterwards. Only the original, adult game however, so openly blind-sides the player with the revelation that Dorii and Guraa [[spoiler:[[HoYay are actually male]].]] The others just kinda leave you unsettlingly uncertain.
* Another LEAF work is ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'', which originated with the adult PC game. Later remade for the [=PS3=] with (what is generally regarded as) superior character design. The anime then took the [=PS3=]'s take on things.
* Creator/KeyVisualArts' games ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' and ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'' were originally H-Games, but the anime versions and later releases of the games were clean, and many people thought the hentai actually detracted from the story. (And was oddly placed. See Mai's arc in ''Kanon'', where [[spoiler:they go to the school to fight demons, but take a break to eat supper and do it on the desks.]]) On that note, there's also ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero''.
* The erotic OtomeGame ''Trick or Alice" received an anime adaptation without explicit sex scenes.
* While in the subject of Key/Visual Arts, like Leaf, they also reversed the bleaching with ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters''. Initially released as a clean visual novel with a gripping plot, followed by a manga adaptation, they then re-released it as ''Little Busters! Ecstasy'' as an adult version of the original one (plus extras). The same goes for ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'', except that the unbleached game is a GaidenGame sequel to one of the routes in the original (''Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life''). But then, the Key 10th Anniversary Box edition has an ero-free version of Ecstasy. And then they made a clean anime that is also pretty fanservice-free, too.
* ''VisualNovel/YamiToBoushiToHonNoTabibito'' was based in a H-game, and while the anime still carries plenty of fanservice with lesbians to boot, it is far from being hentai. There is also ''Touka Gettan'', which is distantly related to ''Yami Bou'', that features this trope on two fronts: it's based off of an erotic visual novel that, in turn, is a spin-off of the erotic visual novel/{{Hentai}} series ''Kao No Nai Tsuki''.
* ''VisualNovel/GakuenHeaven'' is a pretty good example of this applied to the BoysLove genre. The original PC game included sex but didn't show any penises. The sequel and the [=PS2=] port both toned down the sex to just suggestion. The anime cleaned things up even further until the original game's ''rapist seme'' was reduced down to sexual harassment by ''elbow licking.'' The manga versions of things keep much closer to the original source material.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'' is based on a series of eroge for the PC, but removing the adult content doesn't impact the mecha/Lovecraft story much.
* Another example is the popular DatingSim ''Literature/{{Sukisho}}''. The [[LoliconAndShotacon Shotacon]], gore, and H scenes aren't present in adaptations from the game (at least not in the anime and {{OVA}}) and was basically toned down from a [[YaoiGenre full-blown Yaoi]] to shounen-ai fluff.
* The hentai game series ''VisualNovel/GreenGreen'' was adapted into an anime that started off pretty clean, but eventually added back in the nudity. It never had the sex of the games until the BonusEpisode 13, which was never licensed in the U.S.
* ''VisualNovel/TheyAreMyNobleMasters'' started as a H-Game, but when the anime came out, it was filled with TONS of {{shout out}}s to different series.
* The twelve-episode series ''VisualNovel/SoulLink'' is based on the game of the same name. The plot is almost the same, some characters were added, but the H is toned down. There is still lots of sexiness and one or two bed scenes.
* ''VisualNovel/PrincessLover'', based on the eroge of the same name from RICOTTA. Most of the elements from the visual novel were kept for the animated adaptation; however, RICOTTA wasn't entirely satisfied with just a broadcast release, thus averted this trope by releasing an H-{{OVA}} for one of their heroines.
* ''VisualNovel/YosugaNoSora'' plays this trope straight with its manga adaptation, but surprisingly averted this with its animated release... ''on broadcast television'', by going the entire way of showing explicit sex scenes at the end of each heroine's arc.
* ''VisualNovel/MagicalCanan'', based on Terios Company's game ''and'' hentai OVA ''Magical '''K'''anan'', are developed by totally different developers (AIC) and have totally different art styles.
%%* ''VideoGame/PrismArk''. Zero Context Example
* ''VideoGame/YoakeMaeYoriRuriiroNa'' originated as an H-Game, but the anime adaptation and [=PS2=] port have the sex scenes removed.
* ''Anime/VariableGeo'' actually provides stronger sexual and violent content than [[VideoGame/AdvancedVariableGeo the game]] it was ''loosely'' based on. However, the original ''Variable Geo'' was a Platform/PC98 game that included explicit sex scenes, as did all the sequels that were made for [=PCs=] rather than consoles. ''[[PornWithoutPlot Variable Geo: NEO]]'' was based on one of the later games and is an alternate continuity, featuring an entirely different cast.
* TheAnimeOfTheGame ''VisualNovel/{{Doukyusei}} 2'' became the first {{Dating Sim}}-based anime to air on Japanese TV in 1998. The TV series was the OAV with the sex scenes edited out.
* ''VisualNovel/AseliaTheEternalTheSpiritOfEternitySword'' was originally an H-game/RPG mix for the PC. Eventually, it was ported to the [=PlayStation=] 2, which doesn't allow adult content. Then it was ported back. So all the references to the sex are there and you can even pinpoint when it happened, you'll just never see it.
* ''Anime/{{Nightwalker}}'' is a very early anime TV series based on an eroge, just barely edged out of the pioneer spot by the adaptation of Doukyuusei 2. While it isn't trying to hide its origins, it is required to meet broadcast standards. Fortunately, with its OtakuOClock airtime that isn't so difficult. The protagonist is a vampire, so it is an easy leap from sex scenes to less explicit KissOfTheVampire scenes.
* The anime adaption of ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts'' still features sex scenes, albeit in a more tasteful PG-13 manner than the original PC visual novel.
* Many are surprised to find that ''VisualNovel/ComicParty'' was based off an H-game, considering the original anime was quite clean (rated PG in most countries) and contained almost no fanservice. (Some of the bonus [=OVAs=] and the sequel ''Revolution'' series do add some brief nudity, but no sex.)
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga -- Other]]
* ''Anime/MezzoForte'' was originally a hentai OVA. Curiously, each of the two ''Mezzo Forte'' episodes only has a single two-minute sex scene -- and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment it's easily edited out without any plot impact]], as was done in some US versions. Japanese contractual obligations to add hentai material, meet overseas distributor underpants bleaching. ''Mezzo Forte'' was not supposed to be porn at first, but the producer bankrolling it believed it was the only way it would make money and forced the team to add in the gratuitous nudity and sex. Basically, the American release was what they had really wanted to do all along (once they found a different publisher). The followup TV series was also non-hentai.
* ''Anime/ProjectAKo'', similar to ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' and ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'', was originally produced as part of the [[{{Lemon}} Cream Lemon]] hentai series, but the producers thought the comedy was too good to be broken up with sex scenes. They left plenty of [[LesYay suggestiveness]] in, though, like a few shots of B-Ko bathing, and '''lots''' of PantyShots.
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'' plays with this trope.
** The work Monkey Punch did for "Playboy School" should be easy to guess (Magazine/{{Playboy}} for reference). And the original Lupin manga weren't much cleaner.
** The ''Anime/LupinIIIPart1'' series was cleaner (but still {{Seinen}}-oriented), and the Anime/LupinIIIYearlySpecials are much LighterAndSofter. But ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine'' was made HotterAndSexier as well as DarkerAndEdgier, in order to align closer to the original manga style.
* ''Anime/DreamHunterRem'' started life as a one-shot hentai OVA. Due to popular demand, this one-shot was re-edited and re-released with a newly made episode as a mainstream title and eventually spawned four sequels.
* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' by Takemaru "Okayado" Inui was based on an online hentai comic titled ''Living with Monster Girl''. He has also made two other series, a one-shot, ''Manga/DeadlineSummoner'' which just lays on the fanservice, and a one-shot, now an ongoing series, ''Manga/TwelveBeast'' which has ''plenty'' of ecchi in-between the over-the-top comedy and the seriousness of war. The one-page comics included with the anime's DVD have [[ProductionThrowback the same style and layout]] of his early H-comics, but with Kimihito and his harem in place of the old characters. In an interview, he also said he would be interested in seeing an H-game based on his most famous creation.
* It should be no surprise to anyone that the ''Anime/{{Iczer}}'' series originally began as a hentai manga, though the underpants aren't quite as bleached as other examples due to the series being OVA's rather than TV series.
* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' is a meta example, as its central concept is a sanitized version of actual {{Host Club}}s. Rather than revolving around expensive alcohol, a party atmosphere, and the possibility of after-hours hanky-panky with the hosts, in ''Ouran'' the Host Club's hosts[[note]][[TokenMiniMoe ultra-cutesy]] Honey; Mori, a [[TheStoic stoic]] GentleGiant; the Hitachiin twins who revel in {{Twincest}}-play; [[FetishizedAbuser aloof and intelligent]] Kyouya; PrincelyYoungMan Tamaki; and [[{{Bifauxnen}} Haruhi]], who is more of an everyman (so to speak)[[/note]] engage the female guests in conversation and light flirting along with food and drink, with each drawing their own audience, and sometimes have {{cosplay}}-themed events.
* The ''Manga/WorldsEndHarem'' [[ThematicSeries manga franchise]] are all drawn by various artists whose main claim to fame is hardcore {{hentai}}. The four manga series have [[{{Ecchi}} plenty of nudity]] but stop short of explicitly depicting sex--''just'' short in the case of ''Manga/WorldsEndHaremFantasia'', which relies on whiting out the genitals.
* ''Manga/BootyRoyaleNeverGoDownWithoutAFight'' has an InUniverse example when AV director Victor Iba tries to break into mainstream filmmaking with a martial arts action-schlock film titled ''Fist of the Tokyo She-Beast'', using a bunch of martial arts-capable idols including main character Haebaru Misora (a gravure model trained in classical karate) to make up most of the cast.
* Kohta Hirano, creator of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', started out writing freelance {{hentai}} featuring characters that eventually became the cast of the aforementioned work. In fact, one of his works, ''Legend of Vampire Hunter'', is identical in plot and character design to the first book of ''Hellsing'' -- except, of course, that the busty police officer is only ''threatened'' with rape in the latter work. Hirano being Hirano, he lampshades this all the time in the author's notes in the first volumes. Other characters used in previous hentai titles that were roped into the Hellsing series; Alexander Anderson from the short comic ''Angel Dust'', Pip Bernadotte and the Major from ''Coyote'', Doc and Schrödinger from ''Doc's Story'', Renaldo from ''Magic School'' and the Captain from ''Desert Guardian''. One of Anderson's many nicknames is "Angel Dust Anderson".
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comedy]]
* Creator/PaulReubens's Pee-Wee Herman was a stand-up character for adult comedy nightclubs and his playhouse show played out like a kids' show with adult humor (the type that is more R-rated, not PG-rated, as seen in many animated films and TV shows). One of his routines involved him and his friend Hammy wearing shoe mirrors to see up Hammy's sister's dress. Hammy's sister catches them trying to look up her dress, then tells them the joke is on them because she's not wearing any panties.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Ben Dunn, author of the manga-esque ''Ninja High School'', at the same time wrote a satirical adult series entitled ''NOT Ninja High School''. One of the unique things about ''NOT Ninja High School'' is that several artists from regular Ninja High School projects did stories. Artists who've done Not NHS stories include Bob [=DeJesus=], Takeshi Suzuki and [[ComicBook/GoldDigger Fred Perry]].
* The assistant artist of ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' made some RuleThirtyFour of the female members of ''Scott Pilgrim''. Bryan Lee O'Malley was fine with it since his comic already had its share of sex scenes.
* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' grew out of Adam Warren being forced by financial difficulties to turn to the questionable but lucrative market of superhero-themed bondage pin-ups. Gradually, he found the single images developing into longer gag strips, and finally a full-blown comic series with fleshed-out characters. (Although while it doesn't have any graphic nudity or hardcore images, the comic still has strong erotica and sex-comedy elements.)
* Creator/StjepanSejic once posted [[https://www.deviantart.com/nebezial/art/i-never-stood-a-chance-true-story-XD-418443369 a safe-for-work sketch]] of his favourite bondage themed characters and drew himself in, jokingly wondering if he was a fetishist or a comic artist first. He's fairly free with both male and female fanservice, and in his creator-owned comics has some characters with a few out there kinks, but makes it clear that it's SafeSaneAndConsensual.
* ''Magazine/NickelodeonMagazine'' featured a comic strip titled ''ComicBook/PattyCake'' that was written by Scott Roberts and first appeared in the magazine in 1998, but the series actually began as a comic book distributed by Permanent Press that began publication in 1994. The pre-''Nickelodeon Magazine'' comics were more adult, featuring occasional profanity and mature humor.
* Gigi Dutreix, an artist and writer [[PromotedFanboy who works]] on ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'', and also is notable for their ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fan comic ''Webcomic/TheMurderOfMe'', draws kink art and pornographic art, even of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' and ''The Murder of Me''. There's a good reason they use a pseudonym for this sort of activity.
* A non-sexual example, ''The Phoenix'' features a comic strip called Looshkin, featuring [[[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife the titular blue cat]] and [[LivingToys a living teddy bear named]] Bear. The strip features a lot of slapstick and SurrealHumour. The original incarnation, the 2003-2005 AlternativeComics series ''Bear'', had that but also included swearing and stronger violence, so it was aimed at adults.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* The fangame ''VideoGame/NanacaCrash'' borrows characters from the HGame ''VisualNovel/CrossChannel''. This later inspired ''VideoGame/KatawaCrash'', which borrows characters from ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', which in turn also contains some erotic scenes.
* The original of the Caramelldansen meme features a short dance loop from the H-Game ''Popotan'', set to the Swedish pop-song of the same title.
%% * The character Suzuran from the H-Game ''Suigetsu'' appeared on ImageBoards so many times with the catchphrase "Waha!" that people took to calling her Waha instead.
* ''Fanfic/{{Hivefled}}'' is a complex, plot-driven AlternateUniverseFic. The KinkMeme fic it originated from, ''Reprise'', was basically just horrible torture-rape.
* A {{Cosplay}} example happens with the {{Hentai}} [[PornWithPlot with Plot]] ''Bible Black''. While the visual novels and their anime adaptations are clearly {{NSFW}}, the female high school uniform became so popular in the TurnOfTheMillennium that many cosplayers still wear that uniform in events today and even cosplay some major characters like {{Hot Teacher}}s Reika Kitami and Hiroko Takashiro, all without showing any of the H-content.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The 1975 horror film ''Forced Entry'' was a loose remake of a 1973 porno of the same name.
* In the 1970s and 1980s it was not uncommon for porn films to have second versions released to mainstream theatres with sex scenes either removed or toned down. Examples include Cafe Flesh and Dixie Ray, Hollywood Star (the latter actually having an actual well-known film and TV actor, Cameron Mitchell, in a supporting - but non-sexual - role). Averted with the infamous ''Deep Throat'', which was released uncensored (since an R-rated cut would have been pointless). Since the 1980s it has been commonplace for some of the higher-budgeted porn films to shoot sex scenes with a second camera, or restage them altogether, to allow versions of the films to be shown on cable or released to video where hardcore is illegal. Such productions regularly appear today on networks like Cinemax.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'': In ''Death by Pantyhose'', Vic Cleveland, the book's victim, was blackmailing [[spoiler:Reagan Dixon]] into aiding his stand-up career with the [[spoiler:porno film she]] did in [[spoiler:her]] past.
* A significantly downplayed version of this, the titular character ''Literature/MissBindergarten'' from the children's book series aimed at younger children. Started out as drawings on mature-orientated (but not explicit) birthday cards for teens and young adults.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', episode "[[Recap/ColumboS10E02 Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health]]": InUniverse. Wade Anders, the host of a prime-time true crime series, has a secret past as a porn actor, performing with an underaged co-star to boot. When professional rival Budd Clarke tries to blackmail Wade with this information, Wade kills him.
* Explicit series being made for pay cable sometimes simultaneously film tamer versions without swearing and sex for broadcast and other more restrictive venues.
** When ''Series/TheSopranos'' was being produced, they made sure to be prepared to bleach their own underpants for syndication. They would frequently record alternate versions of scenes where a nude character (often the strippers in the club) would be in bikinis or lingerie, and occasionally a scene would be recorded with softer dialogue to avoid HongKongDub later.
** ''Series/DreamOn'', much like ''The Sopranos'', had nude scenes with alternate takes wearing underwear for broadcast syndication (it also briefly aired on the Fox network).
** ''Series/EmmanuelleInSpace'', a 1990s sci-fi softcore series (loosely based on the movies) that became something of an OldShame when its star, Creator/KristaAllen, began to gain popularity through more mainstream fare like ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'', was reportedly devised to air in both cable and syndicated TV versions, with presumably the syndicated versions being markedly different. There is no indication they ever bothered actually trying to syndicate it, however.
* A frequently used theme song for children's TV shows in TheSeventies was Music/JohnBarry's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUTsS8-vukw "Florida Fantasy"]], from the decidedly family-unfriendly ''Film/MidnightCowboy''.
* Inverted by Creator/MaitlandWard, who after a two-decade mainstream acting career and appearing in series like ''Series/TheBoldAndTheBeautiful'' and ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' transitioned to the porn industry, mainly in the "MILF" niche due to her age.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Manga]]
%% * Takumi Kobayashi is the author of ''Virgin na Kankei''. But seeing the content of the mentioned manga, you definitely can't be surprised.
* As if the ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' examples weren't enough, the creator of ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'' bleached three more characters from Kohta Hirano's hentai manga: Nina, admittedly wasn't bleached much (she went from a catgirl that had sex with Hitler to a succubus that switched bodies with Schrodinger and then fought Alucard), but the characters Natalie and Pip (the prototype for Hellsing's Pip Bernadette) from the hentai manga ''Coyote'' were lightened up, the only signs of the hentai background being a scene where Natalie is chained up. [[spoiler:They turn out to be Pip's grandparents.]]
* The ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' manga replaces the IntimateHealing scene between Saber and Shirou with a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Jackie Wilson and [=LaVern=] Baker recorded [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4hSdSTVSMI an X-rated version of their duet "Think Twice"]] as a piss take during the recording sessions for that single, and later turned up on bootlegs and specialty compilations.
* The [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]]-[[CoveredUp popularized song]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2P68iML-VM "Mah Na Mah Na"]] originated in the score for ''Film/SwedenHeavenAndHell'', an Italian {{mondo}} documentary exploring lesbian nightclubs, porn films, swinging lifestyle of married couples and sex education of teenagers. The song itself accompanied several giggling girls into a sauna.
* The theme song for ''Series/ThePeoplesCourt'' apparently started out as a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3jyxiJmFqM porno groove.]]
* The iconic "ColonelBogeyMarch" featured in ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'' is a complicated example, as it didn't originally have lyrics when it was composed during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI--but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Has_Only_Got_One_Ball the lyrics that soldiers would've sung]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, when ''River Kwai'' takes place, were deemed too crude to include in the movie. This makes the song an example of both WithLyrics and ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics at once!
* Music/LittleRichard's original lyrics to "Tutti Frutti" contained unacceptable levels of swearing and sexual innuendo (being a pretty transparent reference to [[HoYay gay anal sex]]) for contemporary radio broadcast, so songwriter Dorothy [=LaBostrie=] was brought in to hurriedly write new, clean, lyrics.
* Music/JohnLennon wrote a song titled "Maharishi", full of swearing as TheDissTrack on said Indian guru who disappointed him. The version recorded by Music/TheBeatles in Music/TheWhiteAlbum might have a dirtier title in "Sexy Sadie", but its language is cleaner and some lyrics are more vague if still bitter because Music/GeorgeHarrison asked Lennon so.
* The original version of the song "Blind Dance" by Music/VioletUK is 18 minutes long, a [[QuirkyWork near ethereal]] GothicMetal IntercourseWithYou song centering around IntercourseWithYou and the protagonist being a submissive in BDSM, and containing TheImmodestOrgasm combined with ClusterFBomb. The commercial/radio edit version barely clocks in at 4 minutes (if that) and is an ambient sound/electronic ApocalypticLog with some bits of the drums and orchestra from the original thrown in. Both actually are good, but they aren't even the same song despite the name.
* Anthony Kiedis of Music/RedHotChiliPeppers used to rap obscene, sexually explicit lyrics, but no longer does, preferring to sing more romantic material. He will still do some of the older songs such as 'Sir Psycho Sexy' live, but has avoided doing many of the previous ones out of shame.
* Music/TheBlackEyedPeas re-wrote "Let's Get Retarded", a song from their 2003 album ''Elephunk'', as "Let's Get It Started" to serve as a promo song for television coverage of the 2004 NBA Playoffs. Guess which version ended up becoming a [[BreakawayPopHit bigger hit...]]
* The nursery rhyme ''Eeny, meeny, miny, moe'' has gone through some rather lurid incarnations over the past centuries, before being re-{{Bowdlerise}}d in the late twentieth century. The version that appeared in work by Creator/RudyardKipling and in ''Film/PulpFiction'', among others, doesn't use the word "tiger" (or "beggar" as it's bowdlerised in Britain, or "sailor" as in the American release of ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets''). The use of the version of the rhyme that has the N-word instead of tiger is an OldShame for ''Series/DoctorWho'' in that it appears in dialogue in an episode of the 1960s story, ''The Celestial Toymaker''. The episode in question is presently lost, however audio survives, and thus far official commercial releases of the audio have obfuscated this part of the soundtrack to avoid controversy.
* It's somewhat common for 19th-century music by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Foster Stephen Foster]] (like "Camptown Races" and "Oh! Susanna") and others to appear described as "Early American Songs" and are treated today as popular children's songs in the United States, without any reference to the uncomfortable reality that many of the songs were composed for use in {{Blackface}} MinstrelShows. Many of the originals also contained overtly racist language, which is quietly {{Bowdlerized}} these days.
* Goldo's OneHitWonder "Boom-Da-Boom" is mainly known for the version that describes the narrator being in a dream involving various Disney characters (and ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', for some reason). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtiWlaRMmPo The original version]] was about the narrator getting involved in a high-speed chase-turned-fight which goes FromBadToWorse when someone pulls out an AK-47.
* The song "Baby Shark" was originally [[https://theweek.com/articles/813561/baby-shark-once-wildly-inappropriate-children darker]] than the version most kids are familiar with - the original lyrics had the sharks attacking and killing a swimmer.
* The ABC song and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" have a tune that was originally used for a French song about a woman who was shunned for losing her virginity.
* The song "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" was based on a similar song called "Shew Fly" which was sung from the perspective of a slave (the line "For I belong to somebody" was originally "For I belong to Company G") and even had him use the N-word to describe himself.
* The traditional Americana song "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" is almost always performed without the final verse. Most of the song describes a hobo yearning for a place, a fabled paradise known as the Big Rock Candy Mountain, where he could live a life of ease without labour. The final verse is about a homeless teen telling off the man, accusing him of wanting to sexually abuse him.
* Music/KlausSchulze's album ''Body Love'' and its sequel album began as the score to a pornographic film of the same name.
* The hymn "What Child Is This?" (among other Christmas and New Year texts) is set to the tune of "Greensleeves", which is usually interpreted as either a song about a promiscuous young woman or a prostitute, or a song about a woman being ''mistaken'' for one of these things.
* Few hentai[[{{Grindcore}} grind]] bands such as Aloys Fudanshi abandoned the hentai side of things and switched to regular {{Grindcore}}, blackened DeathMetal and powerviolence from ''Alive'' onwards.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* A fair number of {{professional wrestl|ing}}ers in Wrestling/{{WWE}} have gotten their undies bleached, sometimes as a result of a HeelFaceTurn but more generally because WWE has in recent years attempted to become more family-friendly. The most notable of these is John Cena, who rose to fame as a heel that belittled his opponents through R-Rated rap promos. Within record time, Cena was PG-ized by the WWE when they saw his popularity and has gone full-tilt towards erasing any edginess about Cena in favor for a G-Rated version of Cena that they could shill to children. On the Divas side, Mickie James (who did several nude photoshoots before becoming a WWE wrestler) and Kelly Kelly, who started out with fairly perverted gimmicks (PsychoLesbian and "extreme exhibitionist," respectively) before being converted to generic Divas.
* Subverted with wrestler Steve Austin, who credits his brief tenure in ECW for serving as a test run for his revamp into Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. Meanwhile Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}, who for a time called himself [[TheArtifact "The Rated-R Superstar"]] reverted back to his wacky evil gimmick of the early 00s rather than simply being neutered.
* Inverted (given it's for something after wrestling) with Wrestling/{{Chyna}}. ''[[VideoGame/{{WWE}} WWE '13]]'' retells the story of the Wrestling/AttitudeEra [[UnPerson without listing her]]. It's either due to a personal feud with Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon (who among other things married [[Wrestling/TripleH her ex]]), or Chyna starting a career as a porn actress. This was WWE's general stance towards Chyna and her legacy, often downplaying her in retrospectives or pretending she never existed, all the way from her tumultuous exit in 2001 until her untimely death. Since then, she has been looked at with more respect from WWE and even got a posthumous Hall of Fame induction along with the other members of D-Generation X.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Toys]]
* Why does Franchise/{{Barbie}} -- an American children's doll -- have huge boobs? Because she's based on "Bild Lilli", a doll marketed to adult men in Germany. Lilli herself originated as a bawdy character in a German comic strip in the 1950s.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', as it was originally going to be a family-friendly game like its predecessor, ''VideoGame/ConkersPocketTales'', but Rareware decided to tone it very higher.
* The PornWithPlot {{RPG}} ''Dragon Knight 4'' was ported to the SNES and [=PlayStation=] with all the {{Optional Sexual Encounter}}s removed.
* Creator/{{Enix}}, the company behind ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', got its start making computer games. Namely, one of their earliest games involved saving a girl from knives being thrown at her, and the girl stripping as a reward. The game that followed? [[NoYay Stripping little girls...]]
* ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' originally had sexual content in ''Duel Savior Justice'', but it later received a clean release that turned most of the sex scenes into something far more PG, [[SexyDiscretionShot faded to black on others]] and replaced the harem route with one focused around the princess character from the original game who did not originally have a route. In order to do so, she gets dragged along to a number of scenes that were clearly originally written without her presence, making her rather stand out.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has a lot of character designs (Including Pyra and Mythra) being from old hentai artists including CHOCO himself. CHOCO returns to do the designs of KOS-MOS and T-Elos as well as Praxis and Theory, who are entirely new characters. Praxis' character design makes CHOCO's origins as a H-Game artist obvious.
* ''VideoGame/ScarletBlade'' is already a risque piece of work; but it turns out that freecree, the CG artist, was simply using cropped versions of his much more risque versions of his artwork and has put them shamelessly on display.
* Creator/DataEast began its line of billiards games with a clean UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame titled ''Side Pocket''. However, all the (likewise clean) console releases of ''Side Pocket'', not counting the NumberedSequels, were based either on the nudity-enhanced update ''Pocket Gal'' or its sequel ''Pocket Gal Deluxe''.
* The Japanese video game company Custom developed five games, four of which were released with an adults-only rating for the Platform/PC98 and other computers. The fifth was ''Chip-Chan Kick'', a PC-FX exclusive and the only starring appearance of the company's mascot girl.
* Several minor Japanese UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame makers managed to keep themselves going for many years by producing sequels to strip mahjong or similar softcore casual games, apparently to pay the rents while scrounging up the time. Examples include Creator/{{Jaleco}}'s ''Idol Janshi Suchie-Pai'' series, Kaneko's ''Gals Panic'' series, Seta's ''VideoGame/SuperRealMahjong'' series, and Creator/{{Psikyo}}'s ''Taisen Hot Gimmick'' series, each of which included at least one clean console version. (Additionally, in latter's case, the arcade version can be set in the service mode to run in "clean" mode.) Creator/{{Toaplan}} produced three strip mahjong games for no better reason than that the company was young and needed the money; only one of their later arcade games (''Pipi & Bibis'', also known as ''Whoopee!!'') had any nudity.
* Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''Puzznic'' had one version exclusive to Japanese arcades that rewarded level completion with topless girlie pictures. The PC-98 port replaced them with clothed anime girls, while many other versions, including all home versions, had no girls at all.
* ''Kimihagu'' was originally an 18+ HGame for the PC (in Japan only). Six years later, however, it received a 17+ port for the iPhone [[NoExportForYou (still in Japan only)]].
* The maid training simulator/VirtualPaperDoll HGame ''Custom Order Maid 3D 2'' received a clean 12+ release titled ''Custom Order Maid 3D 2: It's A Night Magic''. There's also ''Custom Cast'', an all ages mobile app version of just the character creator intended for Vtubers which also has an option to create male characters, unlike the original (without mods, at least).
** Similarly the eroge ''Koikatsu'' also has an all ages character creator-only version called ''Vkatsu'' meant for Vtubers. A clean version of the game called ''Koikatsu Party'' also received a worldwide release.
* Ironically, despite having a more risque ''premise'' (you're trying to build a camgirl business), ''VideoGame/HunieCamStudio'' is this trope compared to its predecessor ''VideoGame/HuniePop''. It is a BusinessSim that doesn't show anything particularly pornographic, compared to ''VideoGame/HuniePop'''s DatingSim that was very fanservice heavy and featured actual porn in the adult version. It's arguable as to whether or not this was responsible for ''[=HunieCamStudio=]'' flopping, but the [[VideoGame/HuniePop2 next game]] from the company, a direct sequel to ''[=HuniePop=]'', went back to being fully X-rated.
* In ''VideoGame/{{IMGCM}}'', Studio [=MGCM=] has made two versions released simultaneously: The [[{{NSFW}} DX version]] and the regular version. The regular version of said game has all [[{{hentai}} pornographic scenes and dialogues]] from the DX version removed and some of them are replaced with scenes that makes sense for general audiences. However, this game still has some FanService, {{Stripperiffic}} dresses, SexComedy, LesYay subtexts, and {{visual innuendo}}s that include some [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Demon Realm plants and critters that look like women's breasts, male sex organs, etc.]], but it's still relatively clean. Because of this, all the main story scenes, dreams scenes, hallucinations, VisionsOfAnotherSelf and {{imagine spot}}s, that are exclusively available in the DX version, [[TakeOurWordForIt are left to players' imaginations.]]
* Lilith's ''Taimanin'' franchise is a PornWithPlot Visual Novel series, (in)famous for each of its {{Action Girl}}s getting into various sexual situations. Come 2019, a HackAndSlash game, aptly named ''VideoGame/ActionTaimanin'' debuted, which aims to show what the titular Taimanin are really capable of in their line of work, even getting a Steam release.
* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' first came into the world in late 2011 as a teenager whose favorite things were looking up porn on his laptop and video games. Even before Omocat cancelled the graphic novel in favour of making the eponymous game, the ''Omori's Story'' one-shot lacked any trace of sexual content in favour of Omori spending a fun day out of White Space with his friends - and by the time the announcement trailer was released in 2014, she had aged him down to a preteen and laid the final nail in the coffin for any explicit elements.
* Creator/PopCapGames, the company behind ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'', ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'', ''{{VideoGame/Peggle}}'', among other games, started under the name of "Sexy Action Cool", and its first title was a StripPoker game called "Foxy Poker", which served as a revenue stream for their future titles.
* Ever since they made ''Franchise/AngryBirds'', Creator/RovioEntertainment's work has steered towards LighterAndSofter to the point that people only familiar with Rovio's post-''Angry Birds'' work might be shocked to find out just how many of their earlier titles were DarkerAndEdgier, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3zrzfxvdV0 this showreel]] from 2006 proves:
** The ''Darkest Fear'' trilogy, a series of three ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''-esque survival horror titles.
** Several war-themed games such as the ''War Diary'' trilogy, ''Desert Sniper'' and ''Marine Sniper''.
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHLXNiciGSM Patron Angel]]'', a vertical shooter in which a guardian angel [[OurAngelsAreDifferent who looks like a sexy model]] must protect a young boy from demons by ''shooting at them''.
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQNm0Sn2oyg Paid to Kill]]'', a ThirdPersonShooter revolving around a bounty hunter named Ramon Spectre who according to the official synopsis is "coming to collect".
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlJV0P5CAI0 Cyber Blood]]'', a violent and bloody third-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic CrapsackWorld.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts'' received the usual removal of sex scenes when it was ported to Dreamcast and [=PS2=], but also has one particular ending replaced in the ports. [[spoiler:Said ending involved the protagonist getting kidnapped by his love interest, forced to undergo hormonal replacement therapy, and sexually assaulted. The ports replaced this with a more run-of-the-mill happy ending.]]
* ''VisualNovel/AtomGrrrl'' was released for Steam with the majority of the yuri left implied, though Big E's [[spoiler:"weapon"]] was left uncensored.
* The remake of ''VisualNovel/KikokugaiTheCyberSlayer'' removes the explicit sex, presumably opening the novel up to a new audience nine years later.
* In an interesting aversion, ''VisualNovel/Norn9'' has scenes that look like this and cuts to black before the characters actually have sex...but the only releases have been all-ages, meaning there never were any sex scenes to remove to begin with.
* The remake of ''VisualNovel/YuNo'' predictably cut the sex scenes, but it's still very obvious what happened. This was also averted on its first console port - the Sega Saturn - due to the Saturn performing so poorly Sega allowed them in a fit of desperation.
* Subverted in ''Franchise/MuvLuv'''s non-erotic versions, where they get away with as much as they possibly can, either fading to black at the very last possible moment or ''showing the scene anyway'' but the [=CGs=] cropped and the most explicit bits cut out. It's notably ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' that does the latter, which is understandable given that its content is definitely not meant for anyone who couldn't handle seeing sex and is more to appease the rating systems.
* ''VisualNovel/PhantomThiefSilverCat'': As per Steam's regulations, the commercial release features censored imagery (save for a couple of oversights), though dialogue makes it clear what's happening in every scene regardless.
* This shows up InUniverse in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''. Keiichi understands that his father is a landscape artist, but it's implied during a business party that at least some of his commercial success has come from {{Doujinshi}} products in which the subjects keep their socks on.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Wendy'', one of Jackie Lesnick's best remembered characters (or character templates) began as the focal character of ''The Wendy Project'', a site showcasing tons of pinups of Wendy and her friends ([[OldShame which, according to the artist's retrospective, were rather badly drawn]]). The characters would eventually star in the increasingly more wholesome comic bearing Wendy's name, and Wendy's character design was later reused in the filler series ''Cute Wendy'', which became a runaway success and spawned its own sequel/spinoff ''Webcomic/{{Girly}}''. Despite the OldShame involved, Jackie has continued to produce short pornographic comics on her ''Slipshine'' subscription service to this day, some of which still feature Wendy prominently, although slightly better drawn now.
* Before the webcomic got its start, ''Webcomic/LasLindas'' artist Chalo had a number of pictures of Mora in some rather NSFW situations. Once the comic became popular, the pics were eventually deleted from his art pages, though they occasionally still pop up from time to time on imageboards. The move is somewhat ironic, given the {{Fanservice}}-heavy nature of the comic and that Mora has since been shown and implied to have had sex multiple times throughout, not to mention that Chalo does still occasionally post NSFW art of his characters on his social media accounts.
* Happens InUniverse in ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo''. Izzy makes an HGame centered around catching fish girls and then having sex with them. The developers later end up adapting it into a kid-friendly cartoon and related line of merchandise, despite her protests that the MoralGuardians will come after her for it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPPfs7ZCAQc Loud Nigra,]] one of the most widely used {{Stock Scream}}s in Website/YouTube comedy videos starting in the late 2010s, is originally from a pornographic video. Initially, it was used on [[YouTubePoop YTPs]] parodying porn or TheImmodestOrgasm, but later became a stock response for something really scary or [[ScreamingAtSquick disgusting]], or as a funny DeathWail.
* Suzi Hunter, the host of [[https://www.youtube.com/c/TheSphereHunter The Sphere Hunter,]] a Website/YouTube series dedicated to reviewing and analyzing SurvivalHorror games, is a trans woman who had been a pornographic actress during her transition. While she is open about being trans, she does not like to talk about her past as a sex worker, seeing it as a dark period in her life.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DeadEndParanormalPark'' is based on ''Webcomic/{{Deadendia}}'' [[RecursiveAdaptation in turn]] based on ''WebAnimation/DeadEnd''. The former iterations have plenty of raunchy sex jokes and in the case of ''Deadendia'' even guest participations by porn artists, but the Netflix show has been largely purged of that and doesn't really have anything objectionable for kids [[BannedInChina barring homophobic countries banning the show]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', whose early seasons already straddled the line between content suitable for Creator/CartoonNetwork and its nighttime sibling Creator/AdultSwim, is based on two student films creator J.G. Quintel did when he was in college for animation. One is "The Naive Man from Lolliland," which, aside from a single use of the word "hell," isn't considered all that raunchy. "WebAnimation/TwoInTheAMPM," however, contains explicit swearing and references to drug abuse, with the entire premise surrounding two clerks eating candy laced with LSD during the night shift and tripping out.
* The TV series ''WesternAnimation/OhNoItsAnAlienInvasion'' is based on a short called ''Oh Shit!''.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' is already a pretty crude show, but it's based off of an even cruder short Justin Roiland did for ''Website/Channel101'' called ''The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti'', a ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' parody where the solution to literally every problem the main characters encounter is for Mharti to lick Doc's balls. Yes, each instance of this was fully (if crudely) animated.
* ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'' originally premiered in a short called ''Whoopass Stew!'', where Professor Utonium created the "Whoopass Girls" by accidentally adding a literal can of whoopass to his concoction instead of Chemical X. It was DarkerAndEdgier in general, including having the girls kill their enemies instead of just beating them up.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' was a decidedly kid-friendly television series, which originated out of a much darker and more violent [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage comic series]], which continued on separately with its own tone being different than that of the cartoons.
** On the topic of ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', guest character [[KillerRabbit Miyamoto Usagi]] who appeared in various animated incarnations of TMNT. Also originated from a much [[ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo darker and violent comic series]], [[MatureAnimalStory with the tone being more serious, notably lacking the aforementioned series' campy tone, and acknowledging sex (although the comic has zero sex scenes), or for that matter sexism in feudal Japan.]]
* The short-lived Nickelodeon series ''WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}'' is loosely based on Creator/DougTenNapel's comic book series ''ComicBook/{{Gear}}''. Unlike ''Catscratch'', ''Gear'' has a very GrimDark tone that involves characters killing each other in extremely violent ways (mainly inside giant robots), strong and explict religious themes and allegories, and strong language. Nick decided to overhaul the universe of ''Gear'' by giving it a LighterAndSofter and [[DenserAndWackier humorous tone]] and [[AdaptationalPersonalityChange changing the characters personalities]].
* In its concept stages, ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' started off as a more mature BlackComedy. Evidenced by that it originally took place explicitly in {{Main/Hell}}, with the titular main character being sent there after being killed by a bus ramming him over, and also by the fact that Heloise was the spirit of a [[SerialKiller Serial Killer]] and that Lucius was the [[{{Satan}} Devil]] - on top of the fact that some of the surfaced concept art show gore (most prominently, [[https://lostmediawiki.com/w/images/f/fb/DeadJimmy.jpg this one]]). [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerization]] eventually came in once Creator/DisneyXD got a hold of the show. Somewhat downplayed in that this original version of the show wasn't really for adults as it was for tweens/teens.
* The rejected Creator/CartoonNetwork pilot ''Bottom's Butte'' was originally planned as an adult cartoon called ''Bottoms Up'', with the storyboard for the pilot's original draft "Woman in Heat" being about Peanette trying to help Beverly get laid (the two hooking up with a pair of twin brothers who are anthropomorphic cigarettes) and ending with Beverly [[NakedPeopleAreFunny naked]].
* ''WesternAnimation/ToxicCrusaders'' was a family-friendly cartoon that's liberally adapted from the ''Film/ToxicAvenger'' films, which are ''far'' more violent, gory and sexualized. Pretty much the only elements that were kept are the gross-out mutations, although there are [[ParentalBonus some adult jokes sneaked in the witty dialogue]].
* The UK kids series ''WesternAnimation/{{Dodo}}'' is based on the short film ''Not the End of the World'' which has main character Joe sleeping naked, popular girl Molly smoking and Joe's friend mentioning he heard that Molly let a guy touch her boob. Though the series still has some dirty jokes that only adults and older kids will get.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Other]]
* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna "Lenna" test image]] is a cropped version of a Playboy centerfold.
[[/folder]]
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[[WMG:[[center: [-''VideoGame/EldenRing'' '''[[Characters/EldenRing Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingTheTarnished The Tarnished]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMarika Marika]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''Outer Gods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingGodfrey Godfrey]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMorgott Morgott]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMohg Mohg]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn Radahn]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRykard Rykard]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRanniTheWitch Ranni the Witch]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]
!The Outer Gods
!!WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS
Unseen and phenomenally powerful entities from outside the world, said to be similar in nature and might to the Greater Will. Few mortals are aware of their existence; those who do call them "outer gods" of various different motifs. Greater in strength and power, even beyond Marika and her ilk, these entities have exerted their influence ever since the ancient history of Lands Between, and some are still trying to expand their reach even further. Unseen and acting through proxies and catspaws, they nevertheless wield tremendous influence over the setting of ''Elden Ring'' and its plot and backstory. Many of them act as rivals to the Greater Will, and some have direct influence in some of the game's MultipleEndings.
The exact number and identity of the outer gods is impossible to determine, due to occasionally conflicting information in the lore, plus the Golden Order having actively sought to erase or distort the knowledge of its rivals. Nevertheless, the following deities can be reasonably identified:
* The Greater Will itself, the higher power that bestowed the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Golden Order the tree imposes, who guided Marika before the Shattering.
* The Dark Moon, an entity associated with glintstone sorceries and the night sky, and the only outer god whom the Greater Will has an explicit alliance with.
* The Scarlet Rot, described as "Rot itself", a manifestation of disease, decay, and rebirth.
* The Frenzied Flame, an entity associated with madness and chaos that is hated and feared across the Lands Between.
* The Formless Mother, also known as the "Mother of Truth", a being of formless burning blood that is worshipped by the Bloody Fingers.
* The God of the Twinbird, an entity affiliated with ghostflame and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.
* The "fell god" of the giants, a once-great entity associated with fire whose influence over the Lands Between was mostly wiped out when Marika annihilated its servants, the giants.
Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Death. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.
Due to the outer gods' presence, nature, and motives being central to the history of the setting and the plot of the game, '''all spoilers involving them are unmarked''', so tread carefully.
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[[folder:In General]]
'''Tropes applying to most or all of the outer gods:'''
* AboveTheGods: While they are not invincible or all-powerful (one of them was [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome defeated by a mortal]]), the game makes it clear their strength is far above the demigods and supposed "one true god" Marika (who is herself empowered by a similar being). The Scarlet Rot can ascend an [[ChosenOne Empyrean]] to the rank of God in Truth while imprisoned and the Formless Mother can do this too. And the Frenzied Flame is even more powerful. [[spoiler:Its unleashed strength can [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] and split the Erdtree]]. This provides a solid link to them, the Greater Will and the [[spoiler:Dark Moon]] the only other beings confirmed to have such power.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Whether or not the One Great described by Hyetta, speaking on behalf of the Frenzied Flame, even ''exists'', and if it does, whether or not it is an outer god. Hyetta describes it as the original form of life in Lands Between, fractured and divided into various lifeforms due to a mistake from the Greater Will. However, there is no information whatsoever about One Great's nature of being, as it is only hinted as an outer god because of circumstantial clues and the fact its state of being is a concern of the Frenzied Flame, which is definitively an outer god.
** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: All of them to a lesser or greater degree:
** The Greater Will seems to be ''mostly'' good, but how much of that is colored by the perception of its human followers is ambiguous. It abandoned the Lands Between for reasons unknown once Marika defied it, and it also ambiguously tolerates the Scarlet Rot's intercession in its affairs, despite the fact that the Will's own followers view being infected with Rot as a FateWorseThanDeath.
** The Dark Moon's affiliation with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the fallingstar beasts and Astel paints it as horrifying by the Earth-like standards of the Lands Between, but it seems to view those creatures as little more than animals. Its glintstone grows and consumes surrounding land and life, and both the starborne beasts and the glintstones were apparently sent to the Lands Between ''by accident'', or at least not deliberately. The closest it seems to get to intentionally interacting with mortals is providing means to encourage self discovery and that only if said mortals contact it first.
** The Scarlet Rot and its followers seem to consider the horrible fates inflicted on those with Scarlet Rot -- their flesh rotting, their mind decaying, their soul withering -- as some sort of baptism so they can be reborn into their kindred. In particular, Sage Gowry believes Millicent being consumed by her rot due to despair and becoming a scarlet rot flower to be utterly "magnificent" with no malice whatsoever, finding it a joyous occasion. Despite Malenia and Millicent being the two proxies it works through during the events of the game, both of them hate the Rot and seek to throw off its influence -- something that the outer god doesn't seem to mind, or even be aware of. Notably, the fact that the Rot-blessed Malenia was named Empyrean by the Two Fingers indicates the Greater Will, or at least its envoys, do not view the Scarlet Rot's motives and methods negatively.
** The Frenzied Flame views all life as an aberration created by the Greater Will, and seeks to return life to its original, singular state -- an act which would necessitate the destruction of ''every living thing'', from humans to plants and animals and even fungi and microorganisms. Its adherents view this as a good thing, and they also willingly allow the Flame to blind them as it fills them with [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow esoteric knowledge]], offering their pus-filled eyes as "grapes" to Hyetta in order to inflict her with the Flame's madness, a fact which initially disturbs her but which she soon grows to relish.
** The Formless Mother relishes in pain and agony, not only in the inflicting of it in others but in ''herself''; her incantations involve maiming her [[note]]''somehow,'' as she is without form as her epithet implies[[/note]] and allowing her blood to manifest in the mortal realm. She "blesses" her champion Mohg with burning blood, a fate that seems agonizing yet which both the Mother and Mohg himself view positively, and bestowed the same upon Mohg's twin Morgott, a fate Morgott never asked for. This is especially bizarre as Morgott is an impossibly devout follower of the Golden Order, who is otherwise unaffiliated with her in any way. Notably for the Formless Mother, while her followers will typically inflict blood loss when they attack their foes, she does not grant immunity to blood loss the same way those inflicted with Scarlet Rot are immune to it: Wounds are sacred to her.
** The one who sent the Twinbird has the most obscure motivations of all. The Deathbirds appear to hold "death" as sacred, seeing as they devote their lifetime to burn the remains of the dead and rake their ashes, but the birds were also known to make pacts with priests who swore to become their guardians in exchange for a "distant resurrection", which mean they are not particularly against resurrections.
** The fell god of the giants is the only one to which this doesn't apply, simply because almost ''nothing'' is known about it. What little is understood is that it both inhabited the giants and ''enslaved'' them, and both parties viewed this as a benevolent act.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The outer gods are shown to be able to [[WindsOfDestinyChange alter the destiny]] of individuals of their choosing, in much the same manner the Greater Will uses its emissaries the Two Fingers to choose individuals to be its Empyreans to bear the Elden Ring.
** After studying the stars, various sorcerers encountered "Moons" which guide them using the very stars. The Carian royal family in particular was granted knowledge about various truths of the universe and the Sorceries they wield, eventually culminating with Ranni, who is able to channel the Dark Moon with her Sorcery. Radahn's action of blocking falling stars and the light of the distant stars had halted this for a while, but his defeat allows the Dark Moon to once again guide Ranni.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared to [[TheChosenMany the people of Great Caravan due to their despair and curse for the world]], and sent its emissary the Three Fingers to choose individuals with the potential of becoming its divine manifestation -- the Lord of Chaos. Shabriri is also granted the ability to BodySurf corpses so he can continue preaching about its influence.
** The Scarlet Rot foregoes using any emissary, as it blessed Malenia ''directly in the womb'' with Rot. It's unclear what factors allowed it to do so, given most instances of outer gods directly blessing individuals generally happen because said individuals encountered, contacted, or attracted their attention in some way, and Malenia certainly was unable to as a fetus. There are a number of factors which might explain this[[note]]as Malenia was born from Marika and Radagon -- who are the same person -- which Goldmask implicitly calls an imperfection in the Golden Order, it is possible the twins born of them are not under Erdtree's Grace and thus ripe for outer gods to directly influence; it is also possible Greater Will does not view Scarlet Rot in an antagonistic manner like it does outer gods of fire, and thus has no issue with the Rot blessing Malenia -- as despite Malenia's Rot being a great danger to everything around her since ''birth'', the Two Fingers still chose her to be a candidate for Empyrean[[/note]], but none of them can be confirmed.
** The Formless Mother came to Mohg as a child and taught him how to draw upon her power through Blood Incantations. She later tasked him with kidnapping one of the Empyreans so she could corrupt them with her blood into a vassal, whom Mohg could wed to become "the Lord of Blood".
** Dragonlord Placidusax was Elden Lord in an age before Godfrey and Marika, suggesting that he and his spouse were chosen as the Greater Will's foremost emissaries. Notably, despite his god[[note]]Not "outer god", so presumably a deity similar to Marika.[[/note]] having fled the Lands Between in the aftermath of most of the dragons abandoning it for loyalty to Marika's Golden Order, Placidusax is said to be stalwartly awaiting its return.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: At least a few of them appear to be empowered by faith and worship in some way. One of them (the Frenzied Flame) awakened in the Lands Between by a curse of despair chanted by the people of the Great Caravan upon losing their cherished home. The influence of the fell god seems tied to their followers, with the fell god's influence waning considerably when the giants were wiped out.
* TheCorruption: At least three of the outer gods (the Dark Moon, the Scarlet Rot, and the Frenzied Flame) have their essences manifest as forces which can corrupt Lands Between and its inhabitants to varying degrees. See their individual folders for more.
* ColorMotif: Just like the Greater Will is heavily associated with gold and the Dark Moon with blue, some of the other Outer Gods are associated with red:
** Scarlet Rot is called such due to its vivid scarlet color -- most notably Caelid and the Lake of Rot being heavily tinted in almost all aspects. It also generally goes together with muted, organic colors that show up on the plants/mushrooms that accompany its influence.
** Yellow is heavily associated with the Flame of Frenzy. Many of its items are yellow and it's directly called the "yellow flame of frenzy".
** The Twinbird God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds is more solid black fire with palish blue.
** The Formless Mother and the weapons/spells that derive from her and her cult are represented by a deep, bloody shade of red with some black mixed in.
** The fell god is associated with the rich orange-red of forge flames.
** While primarily associated with gold, the Greater Will has a subtle connection to red too. Specifically in the form of the Primordial Crucible (the form the Erdtree took before the Golden Order) which is linked with red-tinged gold. The red lightning of Ancient Dragons (one of whom is the Elden Ring's previous wielder) may be linked to the Greater Will too as it is noted to be tinged with gold.
* CosmicChessGame: They seem to be in a struggle with each other to spread their influence across the Lands Between, and mostly do so by using native inhabitants of the realm as proxies:
** The Greater Will has exerted the most direct influence over the Lands Between, to the point that its Golden Order serves as the basis for the laws of reality itself. Raising Marika to godhood and gifting her the Elden Ring to cement her power, it directed her to war against the giants, servants of an outer god. It tolerated reverence for the Moons done by the Liurnians (likely because they had initiated conversation with the Dark Moon, rather than the other way around) and, for whatever reason, also either allowed the Scarlet Rot to bless Malenia in the womb with its Rot or took no steps to curtail its influence, even naming her an Empyrean. The Greater Will's hold on the Lands Between has started to slip as Marika, its foremost servant, rebelled against it and shattered the Elden Ring. Having abandoned the Lands Between due to Marika's betrayal, it is poised to be usurped by outer gods, which indeed is possible for the Dark Moon, the Frenzied Flame, and Death in some of the game's MultipleEndings. In the base ending, the Golden Order is established as-is with the PlayerCharacter as Elden Lord; the Age of Order ending establishes a modified version of the Golden Order in which gods like Marika are no longer allowed to act as they please. The Blessing of Despair ending establishes a twisted return of the Golden Order stained by the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, in which all present and future generations will be barred from returning to the Erdtree.
** The Dark Moon is rather unique compared to the Greater Will or the others with known influence in Lands Between, in that it doesn't seem to be actively spreading its influence. The phenomenon of its falling stars hitting Lands Between seems to occur naturally, as the Dark Moon didn't make its existence known to the ancient humans who discovered its [[AlienKudzu Glintstones]] until after the ancient astrologers developed Sorcery using the stones and then encountered it in their studies of stars. After that, its influences are through [[{{Lunacy}} guiding moonlight]] and very personal in nature to each individual seeking its guidance, as the likes of Ranni, Azur, Lusat and various others were all inspired with different Sorceries from it. Even the star spawn creatures rising from its meteors are not implied to be directed or guided by it, instead [[FisherKingdom evolving and gaining traits based on where they landed in Lands Between]], with equal chances of becoming either sapient and civilized beings like Alabaster and Onyx Lords or animalistic and calamitous forces like fallingstar beasts and Astel. The Dark Moon can assume influence over the Lands Between in place of the Greater Will if the player pursues the Age of the Stars ending, but even that is largely due to the machinations of Ranni and the PlayerCharacter and Ranni's descriptions imply that the Dark Moon's influence on the world will not extend further than keeping other Outer Gods at bay.
** The Scarlet Rot once had an attempt to spread its influence at some point in history, but was halted under unknown circumstances and now [[SealedEvilInACan a part of its essence is sealed beneath]] [[GardenOfEvil the Lake of Rot]], turning it into [[LeakingCanOfEvil the hellish pit it is now]]. Even so, it doesn't stop [[PoisonousPerson creatures of rot]] from being born there, nor does it stop madmen from forming the [[BreedingCult Order of Rot]] to worship the Scarlet Rot, mutate themselves and others into rot creatures, and facilitate its spread. It also "blessed" [[TheChosenOne Malenia]] in the womb with the Rot, and the main goal of the Order of Rot (and, implicitly, the god they worship) is to get either Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and "bloom," becoming true avatars to the Scarlet Rot. Interestingly, the fact that the Greater Will took no steps to prevent the Scarlet Rot from infecting Malenia and that its envoys declared her an Empyrean indicates that it may not view Scarlet Rot as an enemy -- for whatever reason.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared prior to the Shattering to Shabriri and the Great Caravan who fell to [[DespairEventHorizon despair when they were buried alive underground for their heretical beliefs]]. Unlike the others known to influence Lands Between, the Frenzied Flame isn't keen on forming a cult, but instead dedicates its chosen ones to spread the corrupting flame of [[PowerBornOfMadness madness]] to other life and to [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos across the land against any form of order, chiefly being the Golden Order which Marika imposed]]. Its end goal is fairly vague, with those who possess insight to its nature claiming it desires to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all life on this world]] so these lifeforms [[AssimilationPlot can return to their original primordial form called the "One Great"]], but whatever it wants, it involves [[WorldWreckingWave burning the entire world with Frenzied Flame]]. Although the servants of other outer gods have succeeded in sealing away its envoy, the Three Fingers, it can still get its wish if the PlayerCharacter meets with the Fingers and takes in the Frenzied Flame, becoming the Lord of Chaos.
** During the Shattering wars, Mohg contacted an entity he calls "Formless Mother" and "Mother of Truth" in the hopes of [[DealWithTheDevil resurrecting Miquella as his divine consort and foundation of his dynasty]]. She complied, [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge granting him the knowledge]] to invent BloodMagic incantations derived from her blood and Mohg formed [[ReligionOfEvil a cult to spread bloodshed]] to harvest enough blood as sacrifices to resurrect Miquella. Her blessing of Mohg's reluctant twin Morgott, and the apparent failure of Miquella to be resurrected, may indicate that the Formless Mother has [[UnwittingPawn greater plans than Mohg realizes]].
** The Deathbirds are mothered by a "twinbird" envoy of an outer god associated with death. They were once prominent prior to the Age of the Erdtree, comparable to {{psychopomp}}s in role and described as keepers of "ghostflames" which burn the remains of the dead into ashes. They are considered malevolent deities by the Golden Order, which contributed to their fading into obscurity. Its motivations are by and large a mystery, because the Deathbirds have largely gone into hiding.
** The Fire Giants were heavily implied to [[{{Precursors}} have built a civilization]] who worshipped and [[DivineAssistance borrowed the power]] of a "fell god" which dwells in their flames and their very bodies, and [[DivineConflict this is heavily implied to be the reason why Marika and her Empire were ordered by the Greater Will to eradicate them]]. Though it's never explicitly referred to as an outer god, the fact the flame within the Forge of Giants remains undying despite Marika's attempt to extinguish it -- even with the power of Elden Ring -- and its ability to burn the Erdtree implies it is one. Whatever plans the fell god had appear to have fallen with the giants' civilization, and now it is simply used as a stepping stone to overcome the obstacles set forth by the Greater Will and, potentially, allow other gods to take the stage.
* CosmicEntity: At least two of these beings are noted to influence the cosmos beyond the world of Lands Between, the Greater Will and the Moons. While it doesn't say so outright, the Future Press guide also heavily implies that the beings identified as "outer gods" are from the cosmos; it introduces them by saying that "the fledgling planet was not alone in the vast expanse of the cosmos, and before long a host of outer gods and fell creatures of the starry void took notice of its existence", with the story section about them titled "Visitors From Beyond." Wherever they're from, it's definitely not the Lands Between.
* DespairEventHorizon: A trait shared by the Frenzied Flame and Scarlet Rot is that they have a much easier time taking over their appointed vessels if the vessel experiences great despair, presumably because it causes their will to be broken. In fact, the Frenzied Flame only exists because this horizon was collectively crossed by an entire race.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The outer gods appear to lack a true form which can ''die'', but any physical influence, proxies, and manifestations they have can be beaten back, sealed or killed. Marika's Empire defeated the Fire Giants so thoroughly that their fell god's influence is effectively removed from the land. An ancient god of Rot was said to be defeated and sealed away by a blind swordsman with a sword bestowed by a "fairy", now locked somewhere in the Lake of Rot. The Fingerslayer Blade is also said to be able to harm the Greater Will and its vassals, and Ranni proves she can kill at least the Two Fingers with it. The Fire Giant offers its leg before its chest opens revealing a grotesque face similar to depictions of the fell god; since the fell god was said to reside ''in'' the giants, this suggests the Giant may be channeling or even taken over by the fell god, but it is still defeated just like any other boss. And in all endings, the player challenges and defeats the Elden Beast, an embodiment of the order of the Greater Will.
* DivineConflict: Most of the wars in the history of the Lands Between are a series of secret proxy wars fought by the outer gods for control over the land, and the Shattering is no exception.
* TheDreaded: With the exception of the Greater Will, which is widely viewed as benevolent, and to a lesser extent the Dark Moon, whose glintstones are viewed as dangerous yet important sources of sorcery, almost every outer god invokes fear in those who know of it:
** The Scarlet Rot inflicts a FateWorseThanDeath upon infectees, and Radahn's forces have more or less tapped out of the Shattering entirely in a desperate attempt to contain its spread.
** The Frenzied Flame's infliction of madness and [[OmnicidalManiac desire to end all life]] terrifies anyone who knows of it. Its first adherent, Shabriri, is described as "the most reviled man in history" and is a [[BodySurf Body Surfing]] SerialKiller. Melina [[NotSoStoic uncharacteristically]] ''[[NotSoStoic begs]]'' [[NotSoStoic you]] not to meet with its servants the Three Fingers the closer you draw to them. Even a nomad merchant, one of the very individuals who called it to the Lands Between to begin with, warns you away from the Frenzied Flaming Village.
** The Formless Mother's greatest servants are a cult of {{Serial Killer}}s led by a rapacious SatanicArchetype. Everyone who knows of them hates and fears them, and her by extension.
** The very moniker of "fell god" evokes dread and fear, and generations after the war against the giants has been long concluded, icons of the giants and their lord are used as universal symbols of terror.
** The lightning wielded by the Stoneguard ancient dragons, granted by their deity, was able to hurt the Erdtree. This horrified Marika's empire, to the point some Tree Sentinels become obsessed with becoming dragons to protect their Erdtree, and was a deciding factor in them going to war.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: Most of them act as the source of power for a corresponding school of Incantations used primarily by their followers as a means of strengthening their hold on the world. Yet they seem to care little about who wields their power and for what purposes: the Formless Mother, for instance, does nothing to stop you from using Blood Oath spells to slay Mohg despite his status as her greatest champion.
* EldritchAbomination: All of them. The Greater Will is never referred to as having a body and may, as it is called, be nothing ''but'' will; the Dark Moon lives in outer space and creates AlienKudzu and lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by ''existing''; the Scarlet Rot manifests as a living, sentient disease that corrupts everything it touches; the Frenzied Flame is an intangible force of fire that bestows both knowledge and madness upon its followers, and wishes to return the world to what is effectively primordial soup; the Formless Mother has no physical form, yet the incantation Bloodboon states that it works through carving your hand ''inside her body'' and splattering her blood -- which combusts into flames -- to your enemies; the fell god of the giants seemingly inhabited both the giants themselves as well as their forge, and may actually ''be'' fire in the form of a HiveMind.
* EmotionalPowers: Several of the outer gods are affiliated with emotions in some way:
** The Dark Moon has a heavy individualism theme, with many of those who communed with it such as Ranni, Azur, and Lusat all developing wildly different sorceries based on the creator's own mindset and outlook.
** The Scarlet Rot has some nebulous and unclear ties to its host's emotional state. Malenia is said to have needed to maintain her "pride", "will", and "sense of self" to stop it from breaking out, while Gowry states that Millicent would need to die in despair from [[EtTuBrute the Tarnished's betrayal]] for the Rot's power to bloom properly.
** The Frenzied Flame was implied to come into the world when the people of the Great Caravan despaired after [[BuriedAlive being sentenced to execution via mass burial]] for heresy. Its incantations can also literally kill people by driving them to madness.
* EvilIsBurningHot: As a god of life, fire is anathema to the Greater Will, and so fire is also associated with the most thoroughly (and indiscriminately) antagonistic Outer Gods. Whatever their quibbles with the Golden Order, few residents of the Lands Between are keen on entities that want to burn all life from their world.
* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twimbird God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
* EvilPowerVacuum: The destruction of the Elden Ring and the waning of the Greater Will's influence on the Lands Between seems to have left it wide open for intrusion by the Outer Gods. Otherwise it's a very bizarre coincidence that Malenia's Rot significantly worsening, Mohg getting into full contact with the Formless Mother and becoming Blood Lord, the Frenzied Flame infecting settlements in the heart of Altus, and the Dark Moon deciding to open the path to Nokron all just happened to coincide with the Shattering.
* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for God of the Twibird, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and God of the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* TheGhost: While their influence is certainly felt, none of these entities manifest in the Lands Between. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since as eldritch entities beyond space and time, they might not have a true form and any manifestation they do have can be considered [[FightingAShadow temporary vessels]]. Some of them do downplay this however:
** The Greater Will sent the Elden Beast along with the Elden Ring and has Two Fingers as its heralds. While the Elden Beast's exact role is unknown, each Empyrean chosen to bear the Elden Ring becomes a god as the Greater Will's extension of being or divine proxy. They as well as their consort Elden Lords are explicitly called champions of the Erdtree and the Greater Will, and are referred to as "gods in truth".
** An ancient god described as "Rot itself" was defeated and sealed away near the Lake of Rot at some point in the past. It's ambiguous if this god was a vassal like the Elden Beast, a proxy like Marika, or the outer god itself manifesting, but in any case the Scarlet Rot has marked Malenia as its latest proxy; if she "blooms" three times, she would become a true "goddess" -- a true extension of the Scarlet Rot. The Rot seems to still be a sentient force exerting itself even in this state, as it's capable of spawning fully-formed sapient beings (Kindred of Rot) who can act against its "hosts" (one is shown keeping Millicent prisoner), and Millicent states that Malenia needed "a will that was once her own" and "a sense of self" to resist the Rot.
** The Frenzied Flame also has a herald in the Three Fingers, and anyone powerful enough to harness its flame's true potential to be the Lord of Chaos becomes its proxy.
** An outer god is said to have sent the Twinbird as its envoy, who subsequently spawned the Deathbirds, an entire group of creatures capable of controlling and guiding the souls of the dead.
** The flames of Fire Giants are said to contain the "presence" of their fell god. In particular, the flame in the Forge of the Giants is shown to be inextinguishable even to Marika, so it might be a proxy or even the god's actual physical manifestation in Lands Between. The Fire Giant also manifests a face similar to ancient depictions of the fell god during its BossBattle.
* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the God of the Twimbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twimbird God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while God of the Twimbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While not the direct antagonists of the game, their CosmicChessGame and attempt to expand their influences are the cause of ''many'' troubling things the Tarnished has to deal with, from [[ZombieApocalypse Those Who Live in Death]] and alien beasts like Astel and the Crystalians to the threat of the Scarlet Rot and everything to do with the Frenzied Flame. The conflicts between followers of certain outer gods with Marika on behalf of Greater Will have literally shaped the pre-history and history of Lands Between. In many ways, the entire Shattering is nothing more than an elaborate proxy war fought between the outer gods for control of the Lands Between.
* JerkassGods: From a normal human being's perspective, none of the Outer Gods seem to have good plans for humanity: some seem neutral or indifferent, others are downright hostile to humanity or have malicious intent, or their way of spreading influence would completely transform and change humanity as we know it. Even the Greater Will, the one most widely viewed as conventionally "good", abandoned the Lands Between the moment the Shattering started, leaving humanity to the predations of rampaging demigods fighting for power.
* KryptoniteFactor: Unalloyed gold made by Miquella can stop their control on a person; when combined with a component that puts them "outside of time" (like Dragonlord Placidusax's chamber), Miquella's crafts can purge their influence entirely. Mirrorhelms from the eternal cities are designed to be this but only for the Greater Will.
* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the God of the Twimbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
* OurGodsAreGreater: Unlike Marika and her family who fit the typical "humans, but grander" mold of many classic pantheons from world myth, the outer gods are both far more powerful and far more unknowable, being impossibly powerful, cosmic entities from beyond the world. They have an almost Lovecraftian vibe to them.
* PhysicalGod: On 2 different levels:
** The outer gods exist on such a vast scale of existence to the point their envoys and chosen ones themselves are considered divinities. The Two Fingers are worshipped [[OurAngelsAreDifferent almost like angels]] while Empyreans chosen by them to bear the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Elden Beast are all deemed as gods. Malenia, who was blessed with the Rot to become its champion, is effectively the larval form of a goddess and worshipped as such by the Order of Rot. All of these imply the only reason the envoys and champions of outer gods aren't named gods in the game is because the Golden Order faith deems them as alien, heretical beings.
** A number of outer gods have ''direct'' manifestations which ''can'' be physically interacted with and even killed. This is most obvious for the Formless Mother, whose school of magic involves its followers stabbing its veins and spilling its cursed blood through reality itself. The Scorpion's Stinger also states that the Outer God of Rot has a body, which is currently sealed under the Lake of Rot - the weapon itself is a relic of the god (i.e., a body part). The One-Eyed Shield is also said to be a depiction of "the malformed fell god" of the Fire Giants (i.e. it had a form), which along with Marika being said to have slain it on the same item description, indicates it had a body too.
* RealityWarper:
** All known outer gods can alter fate or causality to their will, and their physical manifestations can twist the laws of physics passively or actively: the Glintstones are the basis of Sorcery, and outer gods often exert their presence or essence as different schools of Incantations. Given the Dark Moon can share its guidance even to dwellers of Eternal Cities (which are trapped underground and thus unable to see the stars), and the Formless Mother's followers can reach its formless veins ''anywhere in the world'', it's clear even ''space and time'' don't restrict their influence either. However, they do seem to have limits:
** While they can freely influence any entity of their choosing (regardless of race, even the likes of giants and dragons), they need to ''notice'' their targets first in some way. At least a few outer gods extended their influence into the Lands Between because they were contacted by natives (Dark Moon, Formless Mother), while at least one came to Lands Between because certain elements attracted it (Frenzied Flame).
** They cannot freely affect those who are already under the influence of an outer god; they require a more direct means of intervention to subvert this hold[[note]]the Greater Will needs its herald the Two Fingers to affect Ranni and bind her to be an Empyrean, and the Frenzied Flame needs the Three Fingers to bless a Tarnished guided by Grace to turn them into a potential Lord of Chaos; the Scarlet Rot might ''look'' like an exception to this as it blessed Malenia in the womb, but the circumstances of her birth might have made her unprotected by Golden Order and Erdtree's Grace due to being born from a single god, which is noted to be a flaw in the Golden Order[[/note]].
** Finally, powers born of outer gods can counteract other outer gods. Mirrorhelms, connected to the Eternal Cities and the Carians, are born from the Dark Moon and expressly shield the wearer from the Greater Will. The unalloyed gold researched by Miquella can suppress the Scarlet Rot in one of its bearers, and can also be used to purge the Frenzied Flame from a recalcitrant Lord of Chaos. The flame of the fell god, empowered by Melina's sacrifice, can burn the Erdtree and allow the Tarnished to seek its interior. Radahn proves it is also possible to turn the powers of an Outer God against itself to ward off their influence, as he wielded the gravity powers learned from star spawn to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard slay them]].
* ReligionOfEvil: Many of them have formed these:
** The Scarlet Rot is worshipped by the Order of Rot, consisting of the monstrous Kindred of Rot. Their duty is to spread the Rot as much as they can, forcibly transforming others into more kindred in the process, and also to convince Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and ascend as an avatar of the Scarlet Rot. To that end they've abducted the reluctant Millicent and kept her prisoner. They also attempt to manipulate the Tarnished into betraying Millicent so that her despair causes her to "bloom".
** The Frenzied Flame has its own counterpart to the Two Fingers, the Three Fingers, complete with Finger Maidens who are granted both insight and madness by being fed the diseased eyeballs of its adherents. The entire faith seems to be led by Shabriri, a reviled historical figure who can BodySurf thanks to the Frenzied Flame and uses this ability to spread chaos through the world.
** The Bloody Fingers are the most overt, being a religious cult of assassins based in a fortified underground cathedral led by the local SatanicArchetype.
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the God of The Twimbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
** The Fire Monks were set to guard the fell god of the giants, but have grown to worship it instead, and have taken advantage of the Shattering to set up militant forts and encampments throughout the Lands Between.
** The dragon cult seeks to "worship" dragons by hunting them and devouring their hearts in an act of Dragon Communion. The result of this is that practitioners begin to grotesquely mutate into Magma Wyrms, bloated monsters that are a hideous reflection of the dragons they worship. Note that the dragons themselves strongly object to the killing of their fellows; Ekzykes, even after being infected by the Scarlet Rot, never forgot his hatred and drive for revenge against Dragon Communers.
* UnreliableNarrator: Most of what we hear about them is filtered either through the mindset of followers of the Greater Will, who will naturally denigrate other gods to make their own look good, or from their own followers, in which the reverse is true. The only other information to go on is buried scraps of history and fables and fairy tales, some of which are contradictory, and necessitates taking all information about the outer gods with a very large grain of salt.
* TheUnreveal: The fell god receives less insight into its personality and motives, as its influence waned in ages past when their followers were either wiped out (Fire Giants, some trolls) or defected to the Greater Will (most trolls).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
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Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\
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The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\
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Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these by accident. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between with all elements of its presence in the world appearing accidental and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. The threats of their stars -- namely the spread of glintstone as AlienKudzu and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry -- appear to be accidental, and tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of glintstones. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those]] [[CrapsackWorld entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly wide]] [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] [[StarfishAliens of forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
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In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
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Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
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Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
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* AchillesHeel:
** Fire, at least for creatures infected by the Rot itself. Virtually every creature in Caelid and the Lake of Rot are weak to flame, and fire is what Radahn's army uses to contain and purge the creatures infested by the Rot.
** Clean, flowing water acts an antithesis to the Rot. The god itself was supposedly imprisoned beneath the Lake of Rot by the actions of a mysterious swordsman who was aided by a water fairy, and the same swordsman was implied to be the one who trained Malenia in how to use her sword. The Rot has thematic connections to ''kegare'', a Shinto belief in spiritual corruption and decay, which is also countered in Shinto by flowing water.
* AmbiguousSituation: Whether or not Golden Order Fundamentalism is ''really'' incapable of curing the Rot. Miquella, once an undisputed master of Fundamentalism, abandoned it after coming to believe it couldn't cure his sister's affliction. Yet one of Fundamentalism's most advanced spells, Law of Regression, is capable of curing ''all'' ailments, Scarlet Rot included. It's ambiguous if this is a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, or if the spell simply isn't strong enough to purge the Rot from Malenia, whose status as the God's primary vessel likely renders her case of the Rot far harder to cure than other infectees. Its even possible the Greater Will might have ''actively prevented'' Miquella from using its power to cure Malenia, so as to not risk making an enemy of one of the most dangerous of the Outer Gods.
** Alternatively, the Law of Regression, as the name implies, returns things to their 'natural', original state, which ''usually'' means curing all diseases -- but [[LogicalWeakness Malenia was infected by Rot in the womb]], and was never healthy to begin with. If anything, the Law of Regression might ''re-inflict'' the Scarlet Rot back upon her if it were somehow cured.
* AndIMustScream: Creatures infected by Scarlet Rot who don't perish or begin mutating usually start fusing with the rot-infected ground. As shown by Greyoll, they don't have to be dead for this to happen. The mother of dragons is fused to the earth of her own barrow, unable to move or defend herself in any way, yet is still alive as she slowly rots to death.
* AnimalMotifs: Arthropods, fitting for a god of decay. The God of Rot itself is a giant scarlet scorpion according to the Scorpion's Stinger item description, the Kindred of Rot resemble humanoid centipedes that can also shoot out web-like projectiles (Pest Threads), and the "bloomings" of the Rot's vessels (like potentially Malenia and Millicent) are accompanied by Aeonian Butterflies.
* TheAssimilator: Dying from the Scarlet Rot seems to cause the being to be completely consumed by it, turning into strange, fungal ''things'' that can [[BodyHorror still bleed]]. Some dragon corpses, as well as the still-alive Greyoll, can be seen with their massive bodies partially consumed by the Scarlet Rot covered ground.
* BodyHorror: Victims afflicted with the long-term version of Scarlet Rot (as opposed to the short-duration infection that kills you in seconds, but can be dispelled with boluses) wander about in misery with giant poison mushrooms growing out of their heads. The bulbous, fungal growths throughout Caelid were once living things, and they still bleed if you hit them with a weapon. Even Malenia, the Rot's champion, has her body slowly decaying from the inside out, with three of her four limbs being prosthetic, her eyes eaten away to the point of blindness, and much of her skin being diseased and rotten.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: The Scarlet Rot is heavily associated with flowers and butterflies to the point where butterflies ''made'' of Rot are a sign that Malenia has embraced the Rot's power. Adherents of the Order of Rot believe that being infected and transformed by the Scarlet Rot is a beautiful rebirth, with the alien glory of Malenia's Goddess of Rot phase in her boss fight making it clear that they're not entirely wrong (just mostly).
* TheCorruption: Many of the outer gods are guilty of this to some degree, but the Scarlet Rot is the most obvious about it. The Scarlet Rot corrupts the very land, causing everything including the sky above to turn into a sickly blood-red and causes most beings, including ancient and powerful things like dragons, to slowly lose their sanity and their body, which begins rotting to seemingly fuse with the land itself, [[AndIMustScream sometimes while the creature is still alive]]. Certain entities and people will instead mutate into creatures of rot, and the rot itself produces a number of unnatural lifeforms who only exist to cause more rot.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossing this allows the Scarlet Rot more leeway to possess its victims and transform them. Malenia's ability to resist it is tied in with her emotional state, and betraying Millicent at the eleventh hour of her quest causes her to fall into anguish and bloom into a rot flower. The Rot seems to be actively trying to push its hosts past this point (consciously or not) given that Millicent mentions it causes nightmares on top of the regular physical pain.
%%* Expy: Of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Nurgle, the Chaos God of nihilism and disease]]. Like Nurgle, this Outer God is a god of disease, and its Scarlet rot can infect not only the body but also the mind and soul, as General Radahn can attest to. It's also powerful enough to ''[[RealityWarper affect reality itself]]'', tinting the beings and lands alike with its colour. Worshipers of the Scarlet Rot preach it as the embodiment of the cycle of Death and Rebirth, and its infection gains grown when its victims [[DespairEventHorizon fall into despair]]. Malenia is the unwillingly chosen Champion of the Scarlet Rot and she has insect-like wings, much like how Primarch Mortarion, Nurgle's unwillingly chosen, gained insect wings following his transformation into a Daemon Prince.
* FantasticNuke: More like a fantastic ''bioweapon''. Malenia's unleashing of the Rot against Radahn left devestation on the level of a [=WMD=] in its wake, with the effects having spread from their battleground and layed waste to all of Caelid.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Denied by the Rot itself as well as its adherents and worshippers, but fully played straight in the minds of everyone and everything else [[note]]potentially excepting, weirdly enough, none other than the Greater Will[[/note]]. Being infected by Scarlet Rot means, at ''best'', a slow wasting death that reduces you to a haggard shell of your former self and eats your mind until you are at a borderline feral state, with not even demigods being immune. At worst, it means becoming a bulbous, grotesque mass of fungus-like flesh growing into the blighted countryside while ''still conscious'', or even being twisted and "reborn" into something else entirely--a creature devoted to Rot whose only purpose is to spread more Rot. Any potential cure for the Rot is also not known to the population at large; the only commonly known method to prevent it is to KillItWithFire before it can spread.
* FesteringFungus: The Scarlet Rot is heavily affiliated with fungus, with the fungal-like growths across the surface of Caelid and some of the infectees having their heads replaced by giant mushrooms. Interestingly, the way the fungi are arranged and grow alongside other flora resembles a coral reef (albiet a twisted, horrifying version of one).
* FlowerMotifs: The Scarlet Rot is strongly associated with flowers, [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterflies, and the cycle of decay and birth]]. While Scarlet Rot typically kills most things infected ([[DeaderThanDead physically and mentally]]), certain compatible individuals will instead mutate into a creature of rot, a process described as "blooming". Malenia is also accompanied with what appears to be rotten butterflies when she lets her Scarlet Rot "bloom" unleashed, and her ultimate rot incantation, the Scarlet Aeonia, creates an eerily beautiful flower-shaped explosion of infectious mist.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Zigzagged.
** Judging from the fact the only means to alleviate Scarlet Rot build up or cure the status in the game are 4 specific consumables and spells: Preserving Bolus [[note]]which requires rare materials, including one, the Sacramental Bud, that doesn't respawn and can only be farmed as a rare drop from land octopi and dogs in the Writheblood Ruins[[/note]], Speckled Hardtear [[note]]A crystal tear formed in places where Erdtree's droplets fall for long periods of time[[/note]], Flame Cleanse Me spell [[note]]An Incantation invented by the Fire Monks who had turned against Golden Order by worshipping the Flame of the Fell God they were supposed to guard, which burns the body with flames to cure ailments[[/note]] and Law of Regression spell [[note]]one of the most advanced Incantations in Golden Order Fundamentalism, which devotees like Goldmask isn't even able to cast due to being based on Intelligence[[/note]]. The recipes of said consumables are generally ''nowhere'' near any area where the Scarlet Rot runs rampant, while the spells are either heretical to be learned (Flame Cleanse Me) or too ''advanced'' for average practitioners (Law of Regression), meaning it is possible the Scarlet Rot isn't so much incurable as much as the means to cure it being effectively unavailable to most victims who catch it.
** However, the Scarlet Rot can definitively kill the consciousness of immortal beings like demigods and dragons, even infecting Erdtree avatars. As such, the fact gameplay Scarlet Rot can be expunged by simply resting at a site of grace, and that the player's Tarnished respawns as normal after dying to it both mean this trope still applies.
** While unstated, we have pretty clear signs that there are just two kinds of Scarlet Rot infection: acute (HP drops very quickly, will eventually go away if you don't die, the patient functions more or less normally while it's active until they drop dead, can be cured with a bolus or spell) and chronic (slowly rot away over the course of years, excruciating and debilitating pain and reduced level of consciousness and memory, seemingly-incurable). Malenia, Millicent, Radahn, and a bunch of random enemies have the latter, while the former is what can be inflicted in-game with Rot spells and "cured" with the aforementioned methods. The in-game Scarlet Rot status effect rapidly drains health and can kill anything (the damage is percentage-based) without the intervention of magic,[[note]]16.2% Max HP + 1350 damage per proc over 90 seconds for weapon greases and rot pots. 29.7% Max HP + 1170 damage over 90 seconds some of your spells. ''990%'' Max HP + 7,800 damage per proc over 300 seconds for Malenia's uniquely potent version.[[/note]] but it only retains that form for some one to several minutes, after which it will cease to have an effect (you could simply survive it by out-healing the damage, for example). Meanwhile multiple in-universe characters are dealing with long-term infections that don't kill anywhere near as rapidly but are much more difficult to remove. Backing this is the fact that you ''can'' inflict the acute version on characters who are already dying of the chronic version, and the result is a very clear visual difference on their models, usually followed by them dying in seconds (this is especially easy to do on Radahn, who [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration at this point]] has extremely low Rot resistance to the point 1 Rot Pot will proc the status).
* GodzillaThreshold: Radahn's soldiers have largely abandoned the Shattering, instead devoting everything they have to prevent the Rot from spreading beyond Caelid, even as it strains their resources and leaves them vulnerable to other armies.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While mostly unrelated to the main plotline other than being another source of dangerous monsters the Tarnished has to face, it is firmly the fundamental cause of Miquella and Malenia's subplot alongside the more direct Mohg, as it choosing Malenia as its new avatar caused the demigod woman great pain all her life, and drove Miquella's motivations to find a definitive way to ward off the influence of Outer Gods. After Miquella is kidnapped by Mohg and Malenia loses her dignity in the fight against Radahn, the Scarlet Rot is free to ravage Caelid and the Haligtree to apocalyptic results and turn them into breeding grounds for rot-born creatures.
* HostileTerraforming: As an alien god that seeks to reshape the entire world in its own bizarre and inhospitable image, the Rot is Elden Ring's poster-entity for this trope. Caelid, the site of the great Scarlet Rot outbreak of the Shattering, almost looks like another planet, complete with an [[AlienSky ominous red sky]].
* LeakingCanOfEvil: The Rot is sealed inside the Lake of Rot, but is still very much capable of interacting with the world at large, from corrupting Malenia in the womb to creating small pockets of Rot throughout the Lands Between.
* LossOfIdentity: One of the most feared aspects of the Scarlet Rot is that it doesn't just kill you, it erases your very sense of self. Radahn, once a proud and honorable general, has been reduced to a guttural, feral monster eating the corpses of friend and foe alike. Millicent ultimately decides she would rather [[DyingAsYourself die with her memories and ego intact]] than let the Rot take her and erase her sense of being.
* LostInTranslation: It's essentially the god of ''kegare'', a Shinto concept of spiritual uncleanliness that doesn't really have a Western equivalent, broadly translated as defilement, impurity or corruption, though not necessarily moral, and in fact sources of kegare can be fully natural like (as seen in the Scarlet Rot) disease and corpses. Several item descriptions (such as soap) give short explanations of kegare, but you'll still have to be somewhat familiar with Shinto to get the connection between things like still water and centipedes that are associated with the Rot, and why flowing water opposes it.
* MysticalPlague: The Scarlet Rot is both the most feared disease in the history of the Lands Between and also the manifestation of a partially-sealed outer god. It's even capable of infecting wholly inorganic beings, such as Crystalians, or ''metaphysical concepts without tangible form'' like the Great Runes. Going by gameplay, the only things immune to it are lifeless constructs that never had organic material to rot nor a mind to lose (golems, Edtree Burial Watchdogs, etc.- Crystalians don't count because they are sentient beings), illusions, projections, and other such things that aren't really there (Margit, Golden Shade Godfrey, Mohg the Omen), or beings that are completely divine and thus out of the Rot's purview (Radagon & Elden Beast).
* NonIndicativeName: Despite repeatedly being described with {{Flower Motif}}s, the Rot has far more in common with fungi then any sort of flora. This appears to be a reference to real world botanical history, as mushrooms were originally categorized as a type of flower before science advanced enough to recognise the differences.
* NothingIsScarier: We know the "god that was Rot itself" has [[PhysicalGod a physical form]], and we know it's buried beneath or nearby the Lake of Rot but that is it. We don't know what it looks like other than the fact it is possibly a scorpion, how long it's been there and if it has any chance of escaping. We're not even entirely sure what it is, considering the sealed away presence could be anything from a vassal of the outer god similar to the Elden Beast (considered a god in its own right), a previously chosen champion acting as a proxy much like Malenia (who gets called "Goddess of Rot" in her second phase), or even the outer god itself.
* PhysicalGod: The Scorpion's Stinger weapon confirms whatever divine presence is currently sealed beneath the Lake of Rot is a physical being, quite possibly a giant scarlet scorpion if the description is anything to go by [[note]]it's "a ceremonial tool used by heretics, crafted from the relic of a sealed outer god"; 'relic' in religious contexts indicates a body part of a holy being[[/note]], while the description of the Lake of Rot map says "the divine essence of an outer god is sealed away in this land." The Blue Dancer Charm also states a blind swordmaster had defeated this god ages ago, but was only able to seal it away, rather than kill it. However, as described in NothingIsScarier above, the true nature of this ancient god remains unclear.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Blue Dancer Charm talisman describes a legend in which a fairy bestowed a sword to a [[HeroOfAnotherStory blind swordsman]], who defeated and sealed way an ancient god of Rot itself. The location of where it was sealed is not known, though it's likely near the Lake of Rot. However, [[LeakingCanOfEvil the Scarlet Rot can still bless Malenia to become its proxy and spread the rot.]]
* ShoutOut: With Gowry's quest being a WholePlotReference to the poem ''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/19/Edward_gorey_insect_god_by_insectgod-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190610003409 Insect God]]'' by Edward Gorey (note that "Gowry" and "Gorey" are spelled the same in Japanese), the Rot's Kindred resembling giant arthropods and its physical form under the Lake of Rot resembling a tailed insectoid (going by the Scorpion's Stinger) is probably also meant as a reference to it.
* UndergroundMonkey: Many minibosses throughout Caelid are familiar enemies reskinned and recolored to reflect their corruption by Scarlet Rot; usually they gain the ability to spread Rot as an attack while gaining a weakness to fire. These creatures usually have the appellation "Putrid" by their name. Notably, even the servants of fellow outer gods aren't immune; Putrid Erdtree Avatars, which serve the Greater Will, exist, and there are a trio of Putrid Crystalians, alien life-forms affiliated with the Dark Moon.
* WeakToFire: The Rot's biggest weakness is that its very, ''very'' weak to fire. Radahn's Lordsworn have put this to good use, wielding torches and flaming weapons, using walls of smoldering stone to stave off the Rot's spread, and even burning an entire ''church'' at the entrance to Limgrave to prevent the Rot from spreading there. They also make use of the Fire Monks' Flame Chariots.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Frenzied Flame]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Flames of Chaos, Yelough
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lord_of_chaos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lord of Chaos, [[TheAntichrist avatar of cleansing]].]]
The migrants of the Great Caravan were never loved by the inhabitants of the Lands Between. Suspicious and hateful of the outsiders, the denizens of the land eventually turned on them ''en masse'', with accusations of wickedness and heresy. Falling upon the Great Caravan, the denizens of the Lands Between destroyed their home and massacred them, culminating in a terrible act of cruelty: thousands of nomads were executed by being BuriedAlive. The few survivors were scattered to the winds. Broken, consumed by despair and hatred, the survivors [[ThenLetMeBeEvil decided to embrace the moniker of heresy they could not escape]]. They called out for something, ''anything,'' to unleash destruction upon the Lands Between in retribution, consequences be damned...\\
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...[[GoneHorriblyRight and the Frenzied Flame answered them.]]\\
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An outer god associated with madness, knowledge, chaos, eyes, retribution, and the color yellow, the Frenzied Flame forgoes the usual machinations of other outer gods. It does not seek to form cults or establish dominion, though a few worshippers have nevertheless embraced it, pockets of violent madness standing out in an already violent world. The Frenzied Flame's foremost agent to spread its knowledge is Shabriri, the most reviled man in history, who blasphemed against the Golden Order and preached chaos and retribution. Though Shabriri was killed, the Frenzied Flame didn't let him die; he remains, able to BodySurf between corpses by dint of the Flame's power. More dangerous than Shabriri is the Three Fingers -- eerie counterparts to the Greater Will's Two Fingers -- manifested to serve a similar role to the Two Fingers; seek someone with the potential to inherit the will and power of the Flame to become the Lord of Chaos, as a true expression of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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Modern adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, yet they boast an impossible well of knowledge and are occasionally possessed of a disturbingly serene lucidity. One, Hyetta of Liurnia, is being groomed by the followers of the Flame to become a Finger Maiden to the Three Fingers. Hyetta claims that the Frenzied Flame despises the Greater Will for fragmenting an ancient source of life, the "One Great," to create the lesser forms of life -- from humans to animals to plants -- that populate the Lands Between. The Frenzied Flame would see the One Great restored, a wish that necessitates the eradication of all forms of life and the scorching of the entire world by the fires of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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So feared and reviled is the Frenzied Flame and its goal of universal destruction that all who have been uncorrupted by its influence oppose it. Its mortal adherents remained isolated, despised, and shunned, and the Three Fingers were imprisoned in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the Royal Capital, sealed by followers of the Greater Will. Still, the Three Fingers remain there even now, waiting for the one who would free them and become Lord of Chaos.\\
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Should the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] embrace the Three Fingers and become the Lord of Chaos, the Golden Order is supplanted entirely and the Frenzied Flame achieves its goal of bringing its purifying flames to all life that exists, culminating in the '''Lord of Frenzied Flame''' ending.
----
* AmbiguousSituation: Its name may or may not be Yelough, which would make it the only Outer God with a name, but it's never given an explicit confirmation. Yelough only appears three times in the whole game, once as the "Eyes of Yelough" plant that appears in locations affected by the Flame of Frenzy, another time in the Yelough Anix Ruins, which has Frenzied Flame worshippers in it, and the nearby Yelough Anix Tunnels, which has nothing to do with the Frenzied Flame in either its design, enemies or boss (who is instead an Astel).
* TheAntiGod: The Frenzied Flame is the closest equivalent to an Anti-Greater Will. Whereas the Greater Will encompasses life, immortality, vegetation and order, the Frenzied Flame represents the end of life, destruction, flame, and chaos, and both employ their own 'Fingers' to choose a vessel to use as a pawn in their schemes. Out of all the Outer Gods at least presently active, the Frenzied Flame and the Greater Will have the most directly antagonistic relation.
* AssimilationPlot: Its most likely end goal. Shabriri and the Frenzied Spirit talk about "incinerat[ing] all that divides and distinguishes" and if Hyetta is given the words of the Three Fingers, she explains that as the Frenzied Flame sees it, all life was once the "One Great" who the Greater Will divided up to make life and souls as humans know them. The Frenzied Flame thinks that this was a mistake that led only to suffering, so it seeks to melt everything back into its original form as the One Great.
* TheBadGuyWins: If the Tarnished inherits the Frenzied Flame, they'll become the Lord of Chaos who will burn the Elden Ring, the Erdtree and likely all life, which -- whatever [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the motives]] might be -- is what the Three Fingers and its master want achieved.
* BodyMotifs: Eyes. The Frenzied Flame inflicts EyeScream on its adherents, but even as they lose their sight, they are filled with knowledge beyond mortal ken -- suggesting that they must lose their sight of the tangible world to gain true knowledge.
* BodyHorror: The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with eyes -- or rather, the lack of eyes. Humans and animals touched by it have their eyes burned out, jets of yellow fire emerging from the empty sockets in their place, and the swollen, pus-filled eyeballs are fed to adherents as "grapes".
* BrownNote: An unusual example; the Fingerprint Stone Shield is heavily implied to be branded by the Three Fingers with its fingerprints, serving as "messages". Getting bashed by this shield causes Madness build up, suggesting the mere act of ''touching'' the fingerprints causes Frenzy to spread onto you.
* ChaosIsEvil: "Evil" might be stretching it for a formless, alien deity, but its goals would certainly result in the death of all living things and its followers are threatening and sinister. The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with chaos, to the point of occasionally being ''known'' as the Flame of Chaos, and Shabriri desires for chaos to take the world. Interestingly, the Frenzied Flame's desire to return life to its primordial state of the One Great gives it some affiliation with the original definition of chaos as well as the modern version.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Even more so than any of the other Outer Gods, openly speading madness, destruction, and corruption.
* TheCorruption: The Frenzied Flame, while less extensively spread than the Scarlet Rot, causes the animals and people that it touches to go insane and infused with the flame itself, and causes unnatural fruits and vegetation like the Eyes of Yelough to grow.
* CrazySane: Adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, sometimes violently so, but also gain tremendous insight and wisdom of ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow.
* DespairEventHorizon: The Frenzied Flame seems drawn to people who cross it and begin to curse the world. The Great Caravan is the most notable example, but Castellan Edgar's questline ends with him infected by it as well, after his desire to avenge his beloved daughter degrades into murdering random travelers. Frenzied Flame incantations are also used by certain Leyndell soldiers on Mt. Gelmir, where the most horrific battle of the Shattering was (and sort of still is being) fought.
* EarnYourBadEnding: The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending is treated as a proper BadEnding, with Melina abandoning the Tarnished and all life [[WorldWreckingWave being scorched by the Frenzied Flame.]] It's also eminently avoidable: the game piles hint upon hint that the Frenzied Flame is bad news, only growing more obvious the closer the player gets to the Three Fingers, culminating in an [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically passionate]] plea from Melina to not pursue this action. Even if the player embraces the Three Fingers, they can purge the Frenzied Flame using Miquella's Needle, meaning that if the ending is achieved, it is certifiably the player's fault.
* {{Expy}}: Of Hastur as the King in Yellow, specifically his depiction in later ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' RPG sourcebooks: a yellow-colored force of entropy from the cosmos who spreads madness to his cult of followers, is empowered by negative human emotion, and takes various avatars to increase its power in the land. The [[https://i.imgur.com/LK67V7q.png Frenzy sigil even looks like the Yellow Sign.]] Note that Hidetaka Miyazaki is a self-admitted fan of ''Call of Cthulhu'', has cited nondescript tabletop [=RPGs=] as one of his main inspirations for ''Elden Ring'', and that one of the locations hosting Frenzy in-game is called the Yelough Anix Ruins.[[note]]Yelough is obviously an alternate spelling of yellow, while "anax" means king in Greek. Yellow King Ruins.[[/note]]
* EvilIsBurningHot: A deity of omnicidal mania that primarily manifests as mind-destroying yellow fire.
* EyeBeams: Most Frenzied Flame incantations involve blasting gouts of flame from your eyes.
* EyeScream: The first symptom of the Frenzied Flame taking hold (aside from murderous insanity), is the eyes growing diseased, swollen, and yellow. Either the eyes fall out intact (or get clawed out by their owners) and become Shabriri Grapes, or just straight up ''burst'' and become Yellow Embers, with the afflicted getting FireballEyeballs in their place. Hyetta eats Shabriri Grapes to feel the 'distant light' (i.e. the Three Fingers), and once she does find it and receives the Three Fingers' wisdom, she says that her eyes are ''melting''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Uniquely the only Outer God that doesn't appear to want one of [[TheChosenOne the Empyreans]] as its vassal, being seemingly content with any host strong enough to not completely lose their mind upon being touched by the flame.
* GoneHorriblyRight: The Frenzied Flame was awakened by the survivors of the Great Caravan. While some of the wandering merchants descended from the Caravan do seem to be adherents and will even use Frenzy abilities if aggroed, others seem to fear the Frenzied Flame just as much as anyone else, with one nomad in Liurnia outright warning the player from approaching the Frenzied Flaming Village to the northeast. It seems these nomads realized something that would kill all life would include ''them'' in the "all life" category.
* LightIsNotGood: The Frenzied Flame, as expected of a god of fire, is heavily associated with light. It's yellow flames can be seen lighting the darkness, and Hyetta refers to a "light behind her eyes" as she is slowly corrupted into serving as its Finger Maiden. Its association with knowledge also fits the trope per the familiar concept of the "light of knowledge". Yet the Frenzied Flame is an OmnicidalManiac which wishes to put all living things to the torch.
* MysticalPlague: The Frenzied Flame is contagious, though to a lesser extent than the Scarlet Rot. The whole point of its various incantations is to spread it to others. In gameplay this just kills them, but whole villages overtaken by the Frenzied Flame can be encountered while traveling, guarded by soldiers with a yellow flame painted on their shields to warn people away from them.
* NothingIsScarier: Like the Scarlet Rot, despite the spread of Frenzy and its madness in certain regions of the Lands Between and how universally reviled its influence is, remarkably little is known about its origin. While it supposedly first appeared to the Great Caravan, there are certain hints such as the existence of Cathedral of the Forsaken suggesting the Frenzy "sprouted" forth from the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers, who served an ancient god supposedly buried in the sacred tomb of frenzy acolytes. Like with Scarlet Rot, it is never made clear what this god is supposed to be -- possibilities include a previous Lord of Chaos or a vassal higher ranked than the Three Fingers, who is never referred to as a god even by frenzy adherents -- or if it is even ''dead''.
* NotQuiteDead: The Cathedral of the Forsaken is heavily implied to be a tomb housing an ancient god who originated the seeds from which Frenzied Flame sprouted forth. But given the Frenzy influnce is very much present and active in the Lands Between ever since the Great Caravan awakened it, this raises serious doubts if the deity is truly dead.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Frenzied Flame plays with this trope. Its flames only exist to [[TheCorruption corrupt all life and the land with Frenzy]], with Shabriri claiming its purpose is [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos to the world]]. However, while its objective certainly involves killing all life, Hyetta claims it actually desires [[AssimilationPlot to melt them all back to their primordial form]], a being who is called "One Great". Thus, while the Frenzied Flame's influence is omnicidal, it isn't necessarily because it wants life itself gone -- simply restored to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality what it considers proper]]. Of course, for all things currently living, the difference is mainly academic.
* PhysicalGod: Apart from the many forms of TheCorruption which Frenzied Flame can cause, the Outer God who originated Frenzy appears to have had a physical manifestation at some point in ancient history, as the Fingerprint Stone Shield found in the Cathedral of the Forsaken explicitly mentions it was part of the tomb of an ancient god. As NothingIsScarier above has explained, the nature of this god is more or less RiddleForTheAges.
* PowerBornOfMadness: As noted, the Frenzied Flame is strongly associated with frenzy, madness, and [[CrazySane insight through insanity]]. The Great Caravan merchants were blessed with the maddening flame when their minds fractured from crossing the DespairEventHorizon, Maidens of the Three Fingers are trained to develop clarity through madness, and incantations of Frenzied Flames involve producing fire through the eyes -- or to be more precise, ''the mind'' -- so much so that a fully realized Lord of Chaos has their heads burn away into a ''sentient ball of flame'', implying their mind is ''literally'' burning with Frenzy.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: While the Flame itself (allegedly) just wants to burn the world back to its primordial state, the people who wield it have usually crossed the DespairEventHorizon and just want to burn the world. This would have been most pronounced in Kalé's cut questline, in which his discovery of the massacre of the Great Caravan led him to beg the player to use the Frenzied Flame they called up to destroy everything, after trying and failing to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil do so himself]] (he reached the Three Fingers but they didn't accept him as a Lord). Hyetta also claims that all of the people who gave her "grapes" felt such despair as to wish they were never born.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: According to Hyetta, the Frenzied Flame believes the Greater Will was mistaken in creating individuality, life and souls in the Lands Between by dividing the One Great, and that it was this action which brought about all suffering, afflictions and curses. Their primary goal is to struggle against the Greater Will and its forces and undo this mistake by [[AssimilationPlot melting everything in the world back as one]].
* RecurringElement: Like the Dark Soul and its followers, most notably Kaathe, in the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, the Frenzied Flame is the antithetical power of the TopGod of the setting (Gwyn and the First Flame in Dark Souls, Marika and the Greater Will in this game) that promises a great change to the world order and to elevate the PlayerCharacter into the lord of the new age - ''un''like the Dark Soul, which was ambiguous in its danger at best, the game doesn't hide that the Frenzied Flame is a purely negative entity and its path is a case of EarnYourBadEnding.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Despite item descriptions saying that it only affects humans, there are also frenzied ''rats'' encountered in and around the Ailing Village and Frenzied Flame Village. Presumably this is because they ate the corpses of frenzied humans (i.e. the same reason rats drop Humanity in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls1'').
* StrawNihilist: Not the Outer God itself, who at least seems to be following a 'higher' purpose in its mass genocide, but its worshippers and servants definetly count. None of them other than Hyetta seem to care about the Frenzied Flame's AssimilationPlot, and are more in it to cause chaos to ravage the world and kill everyone due to a mix of despair-caused madness and nihilism.
* ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: This is the Flame's specialty. The more thoroughly its followers are touched by its madness, the more impossible insight they gain -- culminating in Shabriri bellowing that chaos should take the world and Hyetta asserting that all life is a mistake that needs to be corrected.
* UndergroundMonkey: Several types of enemies have variants that are afflicted with the Frenzied Flame and attack with Frenzied Flame incantations. These include the Cuckoo troops at the Frenzied Flame village and some of the Leyendell Soldiers at Mt. Gelmir.
* UnusualEuphemism: The swollen, chaos-filled eyeballs that its adherents feed to would-be Finger Maidens are euphemistically referred to as "grapes," seemingly because the Eye of Yelough, a corrupted plant touched by the Frenzied Flame, grows grape-like fruits that look similar to human eyes. Hyetta, at least, had no clue what she was actually eating until told by the PlayerCharacter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Formless Mother]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth, The Blood Star
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_mohgwyn_palace_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mohgwyn Palace, lair of her slaves]]
Mohg was one of the children of Marika and Godfrey. Born an Omen, he was hated and despised, sent in shackles to the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital alongside his brother, Morgott. While both brothers eventually escaped the Shunning-Grounds and rejoined society at large, Mohg was not so fast to reconcile as his brother. Going into hiding, Mohg saw the Shattering as an opportunity to seize power and gain dominion over the Lands Between. To do that, he would need the influence of an outer god to challenge the Greater Will -- and so he called upon the Formless Mother.\\
\\
One of the newer gods to arrive to influence the Lands Between, the Formless Mother, also known as the Mother of Truth, is heavily tied to Mohg and his ambitions. The Mother is, as she is described, a shapeless god without form; she is associated heavily with blood, pain, wounds, murder, violence, and an extremely twisted form of love and affection. Craving agony of her own, the Mother grants power to adherents who injure her; her burning blood emerges from injuries to manifest in the mortal realm, scalding those who earn her followers' ire. Every incantation of the followers of blood is in fact a ritualistic injury inflicted upon their insatiable god. Mohg, the Mother's earthly champion, has been granted burning blood of his own, a "gift" the Formless Mother has also bestowed on his twin brother Morgott -- whether he wants it or not.\\
\\
Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between.
----
* AmbiguousGender: The Formless Mother is the only outer god referred to with gendered pronouns or titles, including in item and incantation descriptions. Still, it's up in the air whether a formless deity that exists outside of space can even ''have'' a gender in the human understanding of the term, and Mohg may simply be projecting onto her.
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** She's implied to have some relation to Omens and their 'accursed blood', but it's not known how much. She chose an Omen as her prime apostle, and Mohg is described to have had his accursed blood set on fire when he encountered her, and the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear describes her as an "outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood." Notably, Morgott's cursed sword also has an effect similiar to Bloodflame, which is an odd standout on his otherwise holy-themed arsenal. It's not known if she's just, in an Outer God's twisted way, sympathetic to the Omens, if she finds their cursed blood just a convenient way to exert her influence, or if she's somehow the ''origin'' of said cursed blood.
** Some members of the Fire Monks wield a type of magic called Thorn Sorcery that summons blood-red barbs and briars from their self-inflicted wounds, the similar motifs (as well as the art's focus on [[CombatSadomasochist self-inflicted suffering]]) strongly imply the "Blood Star" that taught these monks in their dreams is actually the Mother.
* ArcVillain: As she's responsible for bestowing Mohg her power and his dream of reshaping Miquella as his consort. This makes her a [[GreaterScopeVillain greater scope variant]] for Miquella and Malenia's story since as an Outer God she's never dealt with directly. [[OutOfFocus She doesn't have much relevance to Elden Ring's story otherwise.]]
* BadBoss: Potentially to Mohg. He seems to view himself as an ascendant BigBad with the favor of an obedient patron deity, but ''any'' denizen of the Lands Between is at risk of misinterpreting [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the whims of an outer god.]] It's worth noting that Mohg's belief that his patron would resurrect Miquella led to Miquella's death, thus depriving the Greater Will one of its Empyreans, and despite all the HumanSacrifice, Miquella ''still'' hasn't come back.
* BloodMagic: The source of the Blood Oath school of Incantations, which consists of casters ''literally carving into her body and ripping out her veins'' to do things like create sprays of blood that burst into flames or summon swarms of flies. She can also harness the blood of living beings as a medium to manifest her power, and seems to be fond of bloodshed just for bloodshed's sake, giving Mohg a cult which promotes killing in her name. Her followers maim themselves using her blood, and use these injuries to invade and kill other Tarnished in their name and in hers.
* BodyHorror: If you can consider the air around Mohg to be her "body", then he's inflicting this on her constantly. Every spell he uses is caused by quickly mutilating the Mother and using her blood as a weapon.
* CombatSadomasochist: An odd example, as her sadomasochism is used for ''others''' combat. Using any Blood spell is described as causing a wound to the Formless Mother, causing her blood to manifest for the caster to manipulate. The Formless Mother actively ''encourages'' her followers to use her like this.
* CompleteImmortality: Implied. The Formless Mother is technically the only Outer God the players can 'harm' through the use of Blood Oath spells and Mohg's spear, stabbing through a red portal and splashing her blood onto your enemies; of course, she ''craves'' wounds, and is a cosmic beings of such proportions that human-inflicted wounds would never be able to kill her, if such a thing is even possible.
* TheCorruption: A subtler example compared to other Outer Gods, but still present: animals corrupted by her influence grow bloody warts all over their body similiar in appearance but distinct from creatures corrupted by the Scarlet Rot, and causes them to inflict magically-induced bleeding. On humanoids, or at least Albinaurics, her blood corruption causes the skin to turn blood-red and grow small horns on their heads, and allows them to (painfully) channel blood magic with their own bodies. She seems to have an effect on the land as well, as areas influenced by the Bloody Fingers have huge clumps of solid, seemingly coagulated blood ammassed on the ground.
* EvilIsVisceral: A deity associated with cruelty, blood, and murder, the base of operations for her followers is a ''lake'' of bubbling blood led by a grotesque monster with a horn [[EyeScream growing into his eye!]]
* HumanSacrifice: Her followers commit murder to empower themselves and her as well, and Mohg at least believes that with enough sacrifical blood, Miquella will be reborn into a biddable puppet.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The Mother and her followers express love and affection (which, for her followers at least, appears to be genuine in an extremely twisted way) by viciously harming and abusing the targets of their desires. This extends to the Mother herself, who craves wounds and whose followers ecstaticly maim and injure her formless body as a sign of devotion.
* MythologyGag: The Formless Mother is very likely a reference to [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Formless Oedon]]. Other than the similar epithet, they're both eldritch gods heavily associated with blood, both are tied to a slumbering infant god, both are associated with a [[AnimeCatholicism Catholic aesthetic]] (Oedon having chapels dedicated to him, the Formless Mother's main spot of worship being a fortified cathedral), both are the figures of worship of a ReligionOfEvil focused on blood and whose leader aspires to ascend to godhood, and both are completely physically absent from their respective games.
* NonIndicativeName: Her alternate title, the "Mother of Truth". Her adherents are secretive and deceptive, and she herself is implied to be manipulating Mohg.
* OneBadMother: One of the most overtly malevolent deities in the setting is called the "Formless Mother."
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The primary color scheme of a god associated with blood and murder is, you guessed it, red and black.
* {{Sadist}}: Mohg's overtly sexual and very depraved intentions for Miquella color a lot of what we know of the Formless Mother as well. She seems to enjoy receiving wounds, not unlike a real-life masochist, but her followers use her burning blood to maim and kill on her behalf, and seem to take pleasure in doing so. As seen in {{Yandere}} below, adherents of the Formless Mother almost seem incapable of differentiating between cruelty and affection.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As an Omen, Mohg was looked at as a demon and shunned by society. The Formless Mother encouraged him to become the monster that everyone saw him as.
* {{Yandere}}: Both of the major emissaries of the Formless Mother, Mohg and Varre, have a twisted and disturbing obsession with "love," and seem to think that the primary way to show it is through inflicting pain. That the Mother's followers show fealty to her by maiming her, and that she welcomes and even ''craves'' these wounds, indicate that it's a mindset learned from their patron goddess.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The God of the Twinbird]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' Ghostflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/y2dhscj0l4w81.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twimbird]]
Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, who only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
\\
After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
----
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. The Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Similar to the Moon, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The [[MonsterProgenitor Twinbird]] that arrived in The Lands Between in ancient times was probably not a "bird" as we understand the concept. Going by associated iconography, it had two heads, black and red feathers and it was ''huge''. If the description of it descending down from the heavens is literal, then [[FantasyAliens it flew through space from another world to get here.]] Somehow it mothered the Deathbirds, these freaky living skeletons that can control the blackflame, despite being the only one of its kind. Most disturbing of all, it has the ability to influence the souls of those who die in The Lands Between and can even control them with its unique powers.
* AnimalMotifs: Heavily associated with birds, especially carrion birds like crows and vultures which are frequently misunderstood scavengers; this ties into the belief that death is a natural part of life. Notably, the Deathbirds look vaguely like grotesque vulture chicks.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Its is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) and the Eclipse Shotel can inflict the crushing Deathblight.
* GodOfTheDead: Described as an God of death, its adepts practice necromancy, used ghostflame and sorcery linked to death and his vassals used to guide the souls of the dead before the era of the erdtree.
* HumanSacrifice: The Sacrificial Axe mentions that sacrificial rituals were part of the cult of the Deathbirds, but does not explore what exactly was sacrificed. The Red and Blue-Feathered Branchsword adds that, at the very least, followers offered themselves in some death rituals, in order to obtain a "glorious end" and give "a death worth offering".
* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
* NotAfraidToDie: Most of the information on the subject indicated that death was considered sacred by the followers of the Deathbirds. They didn't seem to be afraid of dying; quite the contrary, they were willing to embrace their own death in the hope of being resurrected into something better.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The deathbirds are said to guard the ashes of the dead and guide them, and have command over wandering spirits with the power of ghostflame.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Subtle, but the elements are present. The oldest known death worship in the Lands Between (''"In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame."'') came from the Deathbirds, and they were known for burning the remains of the dead with their ghostflame and raking their ashes -- a ''role'' meant to be. Ancient priests who became guardians of these birds also went through the "rite of Death" to mark their oaths, sworn to a distant resurrection -- an oath sworn ''duty''.
* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones and feels cold to the touch.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
\\
At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
\\
In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
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Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
\\
Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
[[/folder]]
[[WMG:[[center: [-''VideoGame/EldenRing'' '''[[Characters/EldenRing Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingTheTarnished The Tarnished]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMarika Marika]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''Outer Gods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingGodfrey Godfrey]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMorgott Morgott]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMohg Mohg]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn Radahn]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRykard Rykard]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRanniTheWitch Ranni the Witch]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]
!The Outer Gods
!!WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS
Unseen and phenomenally powerful entities from outside the world, said to be similar in nature and might to the Greater Will. Few mortals are aware of their existence; those who do call them "outer gods" of various different motifs. Greater in strength and power, even beyond Marika and her ilk, these entities have exerted their influence ever since the ancient history of Lands Between, and some are still trying to expand their reach even further. Unseen and acting through proxies and catspaws, they nevertheless wield tremendous influence over the setting of ''Elden Ring'' and its plot and backstory. Many of them act as rivals to the Greater Will, and some have direct influence in some of the game's MultipleEndings.
The exact number and identity of the outer gods is impossible to determine, due to occasionally conflicting information in the lore, plus the Golden Order having actively sought to erase or distort the knowledge of its rivals. Nevertheless, the following deities can be reasonably identified:
* The Greater Will itself, the higher power that bestowed the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Golden Order the tree imposes, who guided Marika before the Shattering.
* The Dark Moon, an entity associated with glintstone sorceries and the night sky, and the only outer god whom the Greater Will has an explicit alliance with.
* The Scarlet Rot, described as "Rot itself", a manifestation of disease, decay, and rebirth.
* The Frenzied Flame, an entity associated with madness and chaos that is hated and feared across the Lands Between.
* The Formless Mother, also known as the "Mother of Truth", a being of formless burning blood that is worshipped by the Bloody Fingers.
* The God of the Twinbird, an entity affiliated with ghostflame and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.
* The "fell god" of the giants, a once-great entity associated with fire whose influence over the Lands Between was mostly wiped out when Marika annihilated its servants, the giants.
Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Death. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.
Due to the outer gods' presence, nature, and motives being central to the history of the setting and the plot of the game, '''all spoilers involving them are unmarked''', so tread carefully.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:In General]]
'''Tropes applying to most or all of the outer gods:'''
* AboveTheGods: While they are not invincible or all-powerful (one of them was [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome defeated by a mortal]]), the game makes it clear their strength is far above the demigods and supposed "one true god" Marika (who is herself empowered by a similar being). The Scarlet Rot can ascend an [[ChosenOne Empyrean]] to the rank of God in Truth while imprisoned and the Formless Mother can do this too. And the Frenzied Flame is even more powerful. [[spoiler:Its unleashed strength can [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] and split the Erdtree]]. This provides a solid link to them, the Greater Will and the [[spoiler:Dark Moon]] the only other beings confirmed to have such power.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Whether or not the One Great described by Hyetta, speaking on behalf of the Frenzied Flame, even ''exists'', and if it does, whether or not it is an outer god. Hyetta describes it as the original form of life in Lands Between, fractured and divided into various lifeforms due to a mistake from the Greater Will. However, there is no information whatsoever about One Great's nature of being, as it is only hinted as an outer god because of circumstantial clues and the fact its state of being is a concern of the Frenzied Flame, which is definitively an outer god.
** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: All of them to a lesser or greater degree:
** The Greater Will seems to be ''mostly'' good, but how much of that is colored by the perception of its human followers is ambiguous. It abandoned the Lands Between for reasons unknown once Marika defied it, and it also ambiguously tolerates the Scarlet Rot's intercession in its affairs, despite the fact that the Will's own followers view being infected with Rot as a FateWorseThanDeath.
** The Dark Moon's affiliation with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the fallingstar beasts and Astel paints it as horrifying by the Earth-like standards of the Lands Between, but it seems to view those creatures as little more than animals. Its glintstone grows and consumes surrounding land and life, and both the starborne beasts and the glintstones were apparently sent to the Lands Between ''by accident'', or at least not deliberately. The closest it seems to get to intentionally interacting with mortals is providing means to encourage self discovery and that only if said mortals contact it first.
** The Scarlet Rot and its followers seem to consider the horrible fates inflicted on those with Scarlet Rot -- their flesh rotting, their mind decaying, their soul withering -- as some sort of baptism so they can be reborn into their kindred. In particular, Sage Gowry believes Millicent being consumed by her rot due to despair and becoming a scarlet rot flower to be utterly "magnificent" with no malice whatsoever, finding it a joyous occasion. Despite Malenia and Millicent being the two proxies it works through during the events of the game, both of them hate the Rot and seek to throw off its influence -- something that the outer god doesn't seem to mind, or even be aware of. Notably, the fact that the Rot-blessed Malenia was named Empyrean by the Two Fingers indicates the Greater Will, or at least its envoys, do not view the Scarlet Rot's motives and methods negatively.
** The Frenzied Flame views all life as an aberration created by the Greater Will, and seeks to return life to its original, singular state -- an act which would necessitate the destruction of ''every living thing'', from humans to plants and animals and even fungi and microorganisms. Its adherents view this as a good thing, and they also willingly allow the Flame to blind them as it fills them with [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow esoteric knowledge]], offering their pus-filled eyes as "grapes" to Hyetta in order to inflict her with the Flame's madness, a fact which initially disturbs her but which she soon grows to relish.
** The Formless Mother relishes in pain and agony, not only in the inflicting of it in others but in ''herself''; her incantations involve maiming her [[note]]''somehow,'' as she is without form as her epithet implies[[/note]] and allowing her blood to manifest in the mortal realm. She "blesses" her champion Mohg with burning blood, a fate that seems agonizing yet which both the Mother and Mohg himself view positively, and bestowed the same upon Mohg's twin Morgott, a fate Morgott never asked for. This is especially bizarre as Morgott is an impossibly devout follower of the Golden Order, who is otherwise unaffiliated with her in any way. Notably for the Formless Mother, while her followers will typically inflict blood loss when they attack their foes, she does not grant immunity to blood loss the same way those inflicted with Scarlet Rot are immune to it: Wounds are sacred to her.
** The one who sent the Twinbird has the most obscure motivations of all. The Deathbirds appear to hold "death" as sacred, seeing as they devote their lifetime to burn the remains of the dead and rake their ashes, but the birds were also known to make pacts with priests who swore to become their guardians in exchange for a "distant resurrection", which mean they are not particularly against resurrections.
** The fell god of the giants is the only one to which this doesn't apply, simply because almost ''nothing'' is known about it. What little is understood is that it both inhabited the giants and ''enslaved'' them, and both parties viewed this as a benevolent act.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The outer gods are shown to be able to [[WindsOfDestinyChange alter the destiny]] of individuals of their choosing, in much the same manner the Greater Will uses its emissaries the Two Fingers to choose individuals to be its Empyreans to bear the Elden Ring.
** After studying the stars, various sorcerers encountered "Moons" which guide them using the very stars. The Carian royal family in particular was granted knowledge about various truths of the universe and the Sorceries they wield, eventually culminating with Ranni, who is able to channel the Dark Moon with her Sorcery. Radahn's action of blocking falling stars and the light of the distant stars had halted this for a while, but his defeat allows the Dark Moon to once again guide Ranni.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared to [[TheChosenMany the people of Great Caravan due to their despair and curse for the world]], and sent its emissary the Three Fingers to choose individuals with the potential of becoming its divine manifestation -- the Lord of Chaos. Shabriri is also granted the ability to BodySurf corpses so he can continue preaching about its influence.
** The Scarlet Rot foregoes using any emissary, as it blessed Malenia ''directly in the womb'' with Rot. It's unclear what factors allowed it to do so, given most instances of outer gods directly blessing individuals generally happen because said individuals encountered, contacted, or attracted their attention in some way, and Malenia certainly was unable to as a fetus. There are a number of factors which might explain this[[note]]as Malenia was born from Marika and Radagon -- who are the same person -- which Goldmask implicitly calls an imperfection in the Golden Order, it is possible the twins born of them are not under Erdtree's Grace and thus ripe for outer gods to directly influence; it is also possible Greater Will does not view Scarlet Rot in an antagonistic manner like it does outer gods of fire, and thus has no issue with the Rot blessing Malenia -- as despite Malenia's Rot being a great danger to everything around her since ''birth'', the Two Fingers still chose her to be a candidate for Empyrean[[/note]], but none of them can be confirmed.
** The Formless Mother came to Mohg as a child and taught him how to draw upon her power through Blood Incantations. She later tasked him with kidnapping one of the Empyreans so she could corrupt them with her blood into a vassal, whom Mohg could wed to become "the Lord of Blood".
** Dragonlord Placidusax was Elden Lord in an age before Godfrey and Marika, suggesting that he and his spouse were chosen as the Greater Will's foremost emissaries. Notably, despite his god[[note]]Not "outer god", so presumably a deity similar to Marika.[[/note]] having fled the Lands Between in the aftermath of most of the dragons abandoning it for loyalty to Marika's Golden Order, Placidusax is said to be stalwartly awaiting its return.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: At least a few of them appear to be empowered by faith and worship in some way. One of them (the Frenzied Flame) awakened in the Lands Between by a curse of despair chanted by the people of the Great Caravan upon losing their cherished home. The influence of the fell god seems tied to their followers, with the fell god's influence waning considerably when the giants were wiped out.
* TheCorruption: At least three of the outer gods (the Dark Moon, the Scarlet Rot, and the Frenzied Flame) have their essences manifest as forces which can corrupt Lands Between and its inhabitants to varying degrees. See their individual folders for more.
* ColorMotif: Just like the Greater Will is heavily associated with gold and the Dark Moon with blue, some of the other Outer Gods are associated with red:
** Scarlet Rot is called such due to its vivid scarlet color -- most notably Caelid and the Lake of Rot being heavily tinted in almost all aspects. It also generally goes together with muted, organic colors that show up on the plants/mushrooms that accompany its influence.
** Yellow is heavily associated with the Flame of Frenzy. Many of its items are yellow and it's directly called the "yellow flame of frenzy".
** The Twinbird God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds is more solid black fire with palish blue.
** The Formless Mother and the weapons/spells that derive from her and her cult are represented by a deep, bloody shade of red with some black mixed in.
** The fell god is associated with the rich orange-red of forge flames.
** While primarily associated with gold, the Greater Will has a subtle connection to red too. Specifically in the form of the Primordial Crucible (the form the Erdtree took before the Golden Order) which is linked with red-tinged gold. The red lightning of Ancient Dragons (one of whom is the Elden Ring's previous wielder) may be linked to the Greater Will too as it is noted to be tinged with gold.
* CosmicChessGame: They seem to be in a struggle with each other to spread their influence across the Lands Between, and mostly do so by using native inhabitants of the realm as proxies:
** The Greater Will has exerted the most direct influence over the Lands Between, to the point that its Golden Order serves as the basis for the laws of reality itself. Raising Marika to godhood and gifting her the Elden Ring to cement her power, it directed her to war against the giants, servants of an outer god. It tolerated reverence for the Moons done by the Liurnians (likely because they had initiated conversation with the Dark Moon, rather than the other way around) and, for whatever reason, also either allowed the Scarlet Rot to bless Malenia in the womb with its Rot or took no steps to curtail its influence, even naming her an Empyrean. The Greater Will's hold on the Lands Between has started to slip as Marika, its foremost servant, rebelled against it and shattered the Elden Ring. Having abandoned the Lands Between due to Marika's betrayal, it is poised to be usurped by outer gods, which indeed is possible for the Dark Moon, the Frenzied Flame, and Death in some of the game's MultipleEndings. In the base ending, the Golden Order is established as-is with the PlayerCharacter as Elden Lord; the Age of Order ending establishes a modified version of the Golden Order in which gods like Marika are no longer allowed to act as they please. The Blessing of Despair ending establishes a twisted return of the Golden Order stained by the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, in which all present and future generations will be barred from returning to the Erdtree.
** The Dark Moon is rather unique compared to the Greater Will or the others with known influence in Lands Between, in that it doesn't seem to be actively spreading its influence. The phenomenon of its falling stars hitting Lands Between seems to occur naturally, as the Dark Moon didn't make its existence known to the ancient humans who discovered its [[AlienKudzu Glintstones]] until after the ancient astrologers developed Sorcery using the stones and then encountered it in their studies of stars. After that, its influences are through [[{{Lunacy}} guiding moonlight]] and very personal in nature to each individual seeking its guidance, as the likes of Ranni, Azur, Lusat and various others were all inspired with different Sorceries from it. Even the star spawn creatures rising from its meteors are not implied to be directed or guided by it, instead [[FisherKingdom evolving and gaining traits based on where they landed in Lands Between]], with equal chances of becoming either sapient and civilized beings like Alabaster and Onyx Lords or animalistic and calamitous forces like fallingstar beasts and Astel. The Dark Moon can assume influence over the Lands Between in place of the Greater Will if the player pursues the Age of the Stars ending, but even that is largely due to the machinations of Ranni and the PlayerCharacter and Ranni's descriptions imply that the Dark Moon's influence on the world will not extend further than keeping other Outer Gods at bay.
** The Scarlet Rot once had an attempt to spread its influence at some point in history, but was halted under unknown circumstances and now [[SealedEvilInACan a part of its essence is sealed beneath]] [[GardenOfEvil the Lake of Rot]], turning it into [[LeakingCanOfEvil the hellish pit it is now]]. Even so, it doesn't stop [[PoisonousPerson creatures of rot]] from being born there, nor does it stop madmen from forming the [[BreedingCult Order of Rot]] to worship the Scarlet Rot, mutate themselves and others into rot creatures, and facilitate its spread. It also "blessed" [[TheChosenOne Malenia]] in the womb with the Rot, and the main goal of the Order of Rot (and, implicitly, the god they worship) is to get either Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and "bloom," becoming true avatars to the Scarlet Rot. Interestingly, the fact that the Greater Will took no steps to prevent the Scarlet Rot from infecting Malenia and that its envoys declared her an Empyrean indicates that it may not view Scarlet Rot as an enemy -- for whatever reason.
** The Frenzied Flame first appeared prior to the Shattering to Shabriri and the Great Caravan who fell to [[DespairEventHorizon despair when they were buried alive underground for their heretical beliefs]]. Unlike the others known to influence Lands Between, the Frenzied Flame isn't keen on forming a cult, but instead dedicates its chosen ones to spread the corrupting flame of [[PowerBornOfMadness madness]] to other life and to [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos across the land against any form of order, chiefly being the Golden Order which Marika imposed]]. Its end goal is fairly vague, with those who possess insight to its nature claiming it desires to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all life on this world]] so these lifeforms [[AssimilationPlot can return to their original primordial form called the "One Great"]], but whatever it wants, it involves [[WorldWreckingWave burning the entire world with Frenzied Flame]]. Although the servants of other outer gods have succeeded in sealing away its envoy, the Three Fingers, it can still get its wish if the PlayerCharacter meets with the Fingers and takes in the Frenzied Flame, becoming the Lord of Chaos.
** During the Shattering wars, Mohg contacted an entity he calls "Formless Mother" and "Mother of Truth" in the hopes of [[DealWithTheDevil resurrecting Miquella as his divine consort and foundation of his dynasty]]. She complied, [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge granting him the knowledge]] to invent BloodMagic incantations derived from her blood and Mohg formed [[ReligionOfEvil a cult to spread bloodshed]] to harvest enough blood as sacrifices to resurrect Miquella. Her blessing of Mohg's reluctant twin Morgott, and the apparent failure of Miquella to be resurrected, may indicate that the Formless Mother has [[UnwittingPawn greater plans than Mohg realizes]].
** The Deathbirds are mothered by a "twinbird" envoy of an outer god associated with death. They were once prominent prior to the Age of the Erdtree, comparable to {{psychopomp}}s in role and described as keepers of "ghostflames" which burn the remains of the dead into ashes. They are considered malevolent deities by the Golden Order, which contributed to their fading into obscurity. Its motivations are by and large a mystery, because the Deathbirds have largely gone into hiding.
** The Fire Giants were heavily implied to [[{{Precursors}} have built a civilization]] who worshipped and [[DivineAssistance borrowed the power]] of a "fell god" which dwells in their flames and their very bodies, and [[DivineConflict this is heavily implied to be the reason why Marika and her Empire were ordered by the Greater Will to eradicate them]]. Though it's never explicitly referred to as an outer god, the fact the flame within the Forge of Giants remains undying despite Marika's attempt to extinguish it -- even with the power of Elden Ring -- and its ability to burn the Erdtree implies it is one. Whatever plans the fell god had appear to have fallen with the giants' civilization, and now it is simply used as a stepping stone to overcome the obstacles set forth by the Greater Will and, potentially, allow other gods to take the stage.
* CosmicEntity: At least two of these beings are noted to influence the cosmos beyond the world of Lands Between, the Greater Will and the Moons. While it doesn't say so outright, the Future Press guide also heavily implies that the beings identified as "outer gods" are from the cosmos; it introduces them by saying that "the fledgling planet was not alone in the vast expanse of the cosmos, and before long a host of outer gods and fell creatures of the starry void took notice of its existence", with the story section about them titled "Visitors From Beyond." Wherever they're from, it's definitely not the Lands Between.
* DespairEventHorizon: A trait shared by the Frenzied Flame and Scarlet Rot is that they have a much easier time taking over their appointed vessels if the vessel experiences great despair, presumably because it causes their will to be broken. In fact, the Frenzied Flame only exists because this horizon was collectively crossed by an entire race.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The outer gods appear to lack a true form which can ''die'', but any physical influence, proxies, and manifestations they have can be beaten back, sealed or killed. Marika's Empire defeated the Fire Giants so thoroughly that their fell god's influence is effectively removed from the land. An ancient god of Rot was said to be defeated and sealed away by a blind swordsman with a sword bestowed by a "fairy", now locked somewhere in the Lake of Rot. The Fingerslayer Blade is also said to be able to harm the Greater Will and its vassals, and Ranni proves she can kill at least the Two Fingers with it. The Fire Giant offers its leg before its chest opens revealing a grotesque face similar to depictions of the fell god; since the fell god was said to reside ''in'' the giants, this suggests the Giant may be channeling or even taken over by the fell god, but it is still defeated just like any other boss. And in all endings, the player challenges and defeats the Elden Beast, an embodiment of the order of the Greater Will.
* DivineConflict: Most of the wars in the history of the Lands Between are a series of secret proxy wars fought by the outer gods for control over the land, and the Shattering is no exception.
* TheDreaded: With the exception of the Greater Will, which is widely viewed as benevolent, and to a lesser extent the Dark Moon, whose glintstones are viewed as dangerous yet important sources of sorcery, almost every outer god invokes fear in those who know of it:
** The Scarlet Rot inflicts a FateWorseThanDeath upon infectees, and Radahn's forces have more or less tapped out of the Shattering entirely in a desperate attempt to contain its spread.
** The Frenzied Flame's infliction of madness and [[OmnicidalManiac desire to end all life]] terrifies anyone who knows of it. Its first adherent, Shabriri, is described as "the most reviled man in history" and is a [[BodySurf Body Surfing]] SerialKiller. Melina [[NotSoStoic uncharacteristically]] ''[[NotSoStoic begs]]'' [[NotSoStoic you]] not to meet with its servants the Three Fingers the closer you draw to them. Even a nomad merchant, one of the very individuals who called it to the Lands Between to begin with, warns you away from the Frenzied Flaming Village.
** The Formless Mother's greatest servants are a cult of {{Serial Killer}}s led by a rapacious SatanicArchetype. Everyone who knows of them hates and fears them, and her by extension.
** The very moniker of "fell god" evokes dread and fear, and generations after the war against the giants has been long concluded, icons of the giants and their lord are used as universal symbols of terror.
** The lightning wielded by the Stoneguard ancient dragons, granted by their deity, was able to hurt the Erdtree. This horrified Marika's empire, to the point some Tree Sentinels become obsessed with becoming dragons to protect their Erdtree, and was a deciding factor in them going to war.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: Most of them act as the source of power for a corresponding school of Incantations used primarily by their followers as a means of strengthening their hold on the world. Yet they seem to care little about who wields their power and for what purposes: the Formless Mother, for instance, does nothing to stop you from using Blood Oath spells to slay Mohg despite his status as her greatest champion.
* EldritchAbomination: All of them. The Greater Will is never referred to as having a body and may, as it is called, be nothing ''but'' will; the Dark Moon lives in outer space and creates AlienKudzu and lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by ''existing''; the Scarlet Rot manifests as a living, sentient disease that corrupts everything it touches; the Frenzied Flame is an intangible force of fire that bestows both knowledge and madness upon its followers, and wishes to return the world to what is effectively primordial soup; the Formless Mother has no physical form, yet the incantation Bloodboon states that it works through carving your hand ''inside her body'' and splattering her blood -- which combusts into flames -- to your enemies; the fell god of the giants seemingly inhabited both the giants themselves as well as their forge, and may actually ''be'' fire in the form of a HiveMind.
* EmotionalPowers: Several of the outer gods are affiliated with emotions in some way:
** The Dark Moon has a heavy individualism theme, with many of those who communed with it such as Ranni, Azur, and Lusat all developing wildly different sorceries based on the creator's own mindset and outlook.
** The Scarlet Rot has some nebulous and unclear ties to its host's emotional state. Malenia is said to have needed to maintain her "pride", "will", and "sense of self" to stop it from breaking out, while Gowry states that Millicent would need to die in despair from [[EtTuBrute the Tarnished's betrayal]] for the Rot's power to bloom properly.
** The Frenzied Flame was implied to come into the world when the people of the Great Caravan despaired after [[BuriedAlive being sentenced to execution via mass burial]] for heresy. Its incantations can also literally kill people by driving them to madness.
* EvilIsBurningHot: As a god of life, fire is anathema to the Greater Will, and so fire is also associated with the most thoroughly (and indiscriminately) antagonistic Outer Gods. Whatever their quibbles with the Golden Order, few residents of the Lands Between are keen on entities that want to burn all life from their world.
* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twimbird God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").
* EvilPowerVacuum: The destruction of the Elden Ring and the waning of the Greater Will's influence on the Lands Between seems to have left it wide open for intrusion by the Outer Gods. Otherwise it's a very bizarre coincidence that Malenia's Rot significantly worsening, Mohg getting into full contact with the Formless Mother and becoming Blood Lord, the Frenzied Flame infecting settlements in the heart of Altus, and the Dark Moon deciding to open the path to Nokron all just happened to coincide with the Shattering.
* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for God of the Twibird, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and God of the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* TheGhost: While their influence is certainly felt, none of these entities manifest in the Lands Between. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since as eldritch entities beyond space and time, they might not have a true form and any manifestation they do have can be considered [[FightingAShadow temporary vessels]]. Some of them do downplay this however:
** The Greater Will sent the Elden Beast along with the Elden Ring and has Two Fingers as its heralds. While the Elden Beast's exact role is unknown, each Empyrean chosen to bear the Elden Ring becomes a god as the Greater Will's extension of being or divine proxy. They as well as their consort Elden Lords are explicitly called champions of the Erdtree and the Greater Will, and are referred to as "gods in truth".
** An ancient god described as "Rot itself" was defeated and sealed away near the Lake of Rot at some point in the past. It's ambiguous if this god was a vassal like the Elden Beast, a proxy like Marika, or the outer god itself manifesting, but in any case the Scarlet Rot has marked Malenia as its latest proxy; if she "blooms" three times, she would become a true "goddess" -- a true extension of the Scarlet Rot. The Rot seems to still be a sentient force exerting itself even in this state, as it's capable of spawning fully-formed sapient beings (Kindred of Rot) who can act against its "hosts" (one is shown keeping Millicent prisoner), and Millicent states that Malenia needed "a will that was once her own" and "a sense of self" to resist the Rot.
** The Frenzied Flame also has a herald in the Three Fingers, and anyone powerful enough to harness its flame's true potential to be the Lord of Chaos becomes its proxy.
** An outer god is said to have sent the Twinbird as its envoy, who subsequently spawned the Deathbirds, an entire group of creatures capable of controlling and guiding the souls of the dead.
** The flames of Fire Giants are said to contain the "presence" of their fell god. In particular, the flame in the Forge of the Giants is shown to be inextinguishable even to Marika, so it might be a proxy or even the god's actual physical manifestation in Lands Between. The Fire Giant also manifests a face similar to ancient depictions of the fell god during its BossBattle.
* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the God of the Twimbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twimbird God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while God of the Twimbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While not the direct antagonists of the game, their CosmicChessGame and attempt to expand their influences are the cause of ''many'' troubling things the Tarnished has to deal with, from [[ZombieApocalypse Those Who Live in Death]] and alien beasts like Astel and the Crystalians to the threat of the Scarlet Rot and everything to do with the Frenzied Flame. The conflicts between followers of certain outer gods with Marika on behalf of Greater Will have literally shaped the pre-history and history of Lands Between. In many ways, the entire Shattering is nothing more than an elaborate proxy war fought between the outer gods for control of the Lands Between.
* JerkassGods: From a normal human being's perspective, none of the Outer Gods seem to have good plans for humanity: some seem neutral or indifferent, others are downright hostile to humanity or have malicious intent, or their way of spreading influence would completely transform and change humanity as we know it. Even the Greater Will, the one most widely viewed as conventionally "good", abandoned the Lands Between the moment the Shattering started, leaving humanity to the predations of rampaging demigods fighting for power.
* KryptoniteFactor: Unalloyed gold made by Miquella can stop their control on a person; when combined with a component that puts them "outside of time" (like Dragonlord Placidusax's chamber), Miquella's crafts can purge their influence entirely. Mirrorhelms from the eternal cities are designed to be this but only for the Greater Will.
* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the God of the Twimbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.
* OurGodsAreGreater: Unlike Marika and her family who fit the typical "humans, but grander" mold of many classic pantheons from world myth, the outer gods are both far more powerful and far more unknowable, being impossibly powerful, cosmic entities from beyond the world. They have an almost Lovecraftian vibe to them.
* PhysicalGod: On 2 different levels:
** The outer gods exist on such a vast scale of existence to the point their envoys and chosen ones themselves are considered divinities. The Two Fingers are worshipped [[OurAngelsAreDifferent almost like angels]] while Empyreans chosen by them to bear the Elden Ring, the Erdtree, and the Elden Beast are all deemed as gods. Malenia, who was blessed with the Rot to become its champion, is effectively the larval form of a goddess and worshipped as such by the Order of Rot. All of these imply the only reason the envoys and champions of outer gods aren't named gods in the game is because the Golden Order faith deems them as alien, heretical beings.
** A number of outer gods have ''direct'' manifestations which ''can'' be physically interacted with and even killed. This is most obvious for the Formless Mother, whose school of magic involves its followers stabbing its veins and spilling its cursed blood through reality itself. The Scorpion's Stinger also states that the Outer God of Rot has a body, which is currently sealed under the Lake of Rot - the weapon itself is a relic of the god (i.e., a body part). The One-Eyed Shield is also said to be a depiction of "the malformed fell god" of the Fire Giants (i.e. it had a form), which along with Marika being said to have slain it on the same item description, indicates it had a body too.
* RealityWarper:
** All known outer gods can alter fate or causality to their will, and their physical manifestations can twist the laws of physics passively or actively: the Glintstones are the basis of Sorcery, and outer gods often exert their presence or essence as different schools of Incantations. Given the Dark Moon can share its guidance even to dwellers of Eternal Cities (which are trapped underground and thus unable to see the stars), and the Formless Mother's followers can reach its formless veins ''anywhere in the world'', it's clear even ''space and time'' don't restrict their influence either. However, they do seem to have limits:
** While they can freely influence any entity of their choosing (regardless of race, even the likes of giants and dragons), they need to ''notice'' their targets first in some way. At least a few outer gods extended their influence into the Lands Between because they were contacted by natives (Dark Moon, Formless Mother), while at least one came to Lands Between because certain elements attracted it (Frenzied Flame).
** They cannot freely affect those who are already under the influence of an outer god; they require a more direct means of intervention to subvert this hold[[note]]the Greater Will needs its herald the Two Fingers to affect Ranni and bind her to be an Empyrean, and the Frenzied Flame needs the Three Fingers to bless a Tarnished guided by Grace to turn them into a potential Lord of Chaos; the Scarlet Rot might ''look'' like an exception to this as it blessed Malenia in the womb, but the circumstances of her birth might have made her unprotected by Golden Order and Erdtree's Grace due to being born from a single god, which is noted to be a flaw in the Golden Order[[/note]].
** Finally, powers born of outer gods can counteract other outer gods. Mirrorhelms, connected to the Eternal Cities and the Carians, are born from the Dark Moon and expressly shield the wearer from the Greater Will. The unalloyed gold researched by Miquella can suppress the Scarlet Rot in one of its bearers, and can also be used to purge the Frenzied Flame from a recalcitrant Lord of Chaos. The flame of the fell god, empowered by Melina's sacrifice, can burn the Erdtree and allow the Tarnished to seek its interior. Radahn proves it is also possible to turn the powers of an Outer God against itself to ward off their influence, as he wielded the gravity powers learned from star spawn to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard slay them]].
* ReligionOfEvil: Many of them have formed these:
** The Scarlet Rot is worshipped by the Order of Rot, consisting of the monstrous Kindred of Rot. Their duty is to spread the Rot as much as they can, forcibly transforming others into more kindred in the process, and also to convince Malenia or her daughter Millicent to embrace the Rot within and ascend as an avatar of the Scarlet Rot. To that end they've abducted the reluctant Millicent and kept her prisoner. They also attempt to manipulate the Tarnished into betraying Millicent so that her despair causes her to "bloom".
** The Frenzied Flame has its own counterpart to the Two Fingers, the Three Fingers, complete with Finger Maidens who are granted both insight and madness by being fed the diseased eyeballs of its adherents. The entire faith seems to be led by Shabriri, a reviled historical figure who can BodySurf thanks to the Frenzied Flame and uses this ability to spread chaos through the world.
** The Bloody Fingers are the most overt, being a religious cult of assassins based in a fortified underground cathedral led by the local SatanicArchetype.
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the God of The Twimbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.
** The Fire Monks were set to guard the fell god of the giants, but have grown to worship it instead, and have taken advantage of the Shattering to set up militant forts and encampments throughout the Lands Between.
** The dragon cult seeks to "worship" dragons by hunting them and devouring their hearts in an act of Dragon Communion. The result of this is that practitioners begin to grotesquely mutate into Magma Wyrms, bloated monsters that are a hideous reflection of the dragons they worship. Note that the dragons themselves strongly object to the killing of their fellows; Ekzykes, even after being infected by the Scarlet Rot, never forgot his hatred and drive for revenge against Dragon Communers.
* UnreliableNarrator: Most of what we hear about them is filtered either through the mindset of followers of the Greater Will, who will naturally denigrate other gods to make their own look good, or from their own followers, in which the reverse is true. The only other information to go on is buried scraps of history and fables and fairy tales, some of which are contradictory, and necessitates taking all information about the outer gods with a very large grain of salt.
* TheUnreveal: The fell god receives less insight into its personality and motives, as its influence waned in ages past when their followers were either wiped out (Fire Giants, some trolls) or defected to the Greater Will (most trolls).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]
The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\
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Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\
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The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\
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Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.
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* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these by accident. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between with all elements of its presence in the world appearing accidental and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. The threats of their stars -- namely the spread of glintstone as AlienKudzu and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry -- appear to be accidental, and tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of glintstones. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those]] [[CrapsackWorld entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly wide]] [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] [[StarfishAliens of forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
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In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
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Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
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Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
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* AchillesHeel:
** Fire, at least for creatures infected by the Rot itself. Virtually every creature in Caelid and the Lake of Rot are weak to flame, and fire is what Radahn's army uses to contain and purge the creatures infested by the Rot.
** Clean, flowing water acts an antithesis to the Rot. The god itself was supposedly imprisoned beneath the Lake of Rot by the actions of a mysterious swordsman who was aided by a water fairy, and the same swordsman was implied to be the one who trained Malenia in how to use her sword. The Rot has thematic connections to ''kegare'', a Shinto belief in spiritual corruption and decay, which is also countered in Shinto by flowing water.
* AmbiguousSituation: Whether or not Golden Order Fundamentalism is ''really'' incapable of curing the Rot. Miquella, once an undisputed master of Fundamentalism, abandoned it after coming to believe it couldn't cure his sister's affliction. Yet one of Fundamentalism's most advanced spells, Law of Regression, is capable of curing ''all'' ailments, Scarlet Rot included. It's ambiguous if this is a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, or if the spell simply isn't strong enough to purge the Rot from Malenia, whose status as the God's primary vessel likely renders her case of the Rot far harder to cure than other infectees. Its even possible the Greater Will might have ''actively prevented'' Miquella from using its power to cure Malenia, so as to not risk making an enemy of one of the most dangerous of the Outer Gods.
** Alternatively, the Law of Regression, as the name implies, returns things to their 'natural', original state, which ''usually'' means curing all diseases -- but [[LogicalWeakness Malenia was infected by Rot in the womb]], and was never healthy to begin with. If anything, the Law of Regression might ''re-inflict'' the Scarlet Rot back upon her if it were somehow cured.
* AndIMustScream: Creatures infected by Scarlet Rot who don't perish or begin mutating usually start fusing with the rot-infected ground. As shown by Greyoll, they don't have to be dead for this to happen. The mother of dragons is fused to the earth of her own barrow, unable to move or defend herself in any way, yet is still alive as she slowly rots to death.
* AnimalMotifs: Arthropods, fitting for a god of decay. The God of Rot itself is a giant scarlet scorpion according to the Scorpion's Stinger item description, the Kindred of Rot resemble humanoid centipedes that can also shoot out web-like projectiles (Pest Threads), and the "bloomings" of the Rot's vessels (like potentially Malenia and Millicent) are accompanied by Aeonian Butterflies.
* TheAssimilator: Dying from the Scarlet Rot seems to cause the being to be completely consumed by it, turning into strange, fungal ''things'' that can [[BodyHorror still bleed]]. Some dragon corpses, as well as the still-alive Greyoll, can be seen with their massive bodies partially consumed by the Scarlet Rot covered ground.
* BodyHorror: Victims afflicted with the long-term version of Scarlet Rot (as opposed to the short-duration infection that kills you in seconds, but can be dispelled with boluses) wander about in misery with giant poison mushrooms growing out of their heads. The bulbous, fungal growths throughout Caelid were once living things, and they still bleed if you hit them with a weapon. Even Malenia, the Rot's champion, has her body slowly decaying from the inside out, with three of her four limbs being prosthetic, her eyes eaten away to the point of blindness, and much of her skin being diseased and rotten.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: The Scarlet Rot is heavily associated with flowers and butterflies to the point where butterflies ''made'' of Rot are a sign that Malenia has embraced the Rot's power. Adherents of the Order of Rot believe that being infected and transformed by the Scarlet Rot is a beautiful rebirth, with the alien glory of Malenia's Goddess of Rot phase in her boss fight making it clear that they're not entirely wrong (just mostly).
* TheCorruption: Many of the outer gods are guilty of this to some degree, but the Scarlet Rot is the most obvious about it. The Scarlet Rot corrupts the very land, causing everything including the sky above to turn into a sickly blood-red and causes most beings, including ancient and powerful things like dragons, to slowly lose their sanity and their body, which begins rotting to seemingly fuse with the land itself, [[AndIMustScream sometimes while the creature is still alive]]. Certain entities and people will instead mutate into creatures of rot, and the rot itself produces a number of unnatural lifeforms who only exist to cause more rot.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossing this allows the Scarlet Rot more leeway to possess its victims and transform them. Malenia's ability to resist it is tied in with her emotional state, and betraying Millicent at the eleventh hour of her quest causes her to fall into anguish and bloom into a rot flower. The Rot seems to be actively trying to push its hosts past this point (consciously or not) given that Millicent mentions it causes nightmares on top of the regular physical pain.
%%* Expy: Of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Nurgle, the Chaos God of nihilism and disease]]. Like Nurgle, this Outer God is a god of disease, and its Scarlet rot can infect not only the body but also the mind and soul, as General Radahn can attest to. It's also powerful enough to ''[[RealityWarper affect reality itself]]'', tinting the beings and lands alike with its colour. Worshipers of the Scarlet Rot preach it as the embodiment of the cycle of Death and Rebirth, and its infection gains grown when its victims [[DespairEventHorizon fall into despair]]. Malenia is the unwillingly chosen Champion of the Scarlet Rot and she has insect-like wings, much like how Primarch Mortarion, Nurgle's unwillingly chosen, gained insect wings following his transformation into a Daemon Prince.
* FantasticNuke: More like a fantastic ''bioweapon''. Malenia's unleashing of the Rot against Radahn left devestation on the level of a [=WMD=] in its wake, with the effects having spread from their battleground and layed waste to all of Caelid.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Denied by the Rot itself as well as its adherents and worshippers, but fully played straight in the minds of everyone and everything else [[note]]potentially excepting, weirdly enough, none other than the Greater Will[[/note]]. Being infected by Scarlet Rot means, at ''best'', a slow wasting death that reduces you to a haggard shell of your former self and eats your mind until you are at a borderline feral state, with not even demigods being immune. At worst, it means becoming a bulbous, grotesque mass of fungus-like flesh growing into the blighted countryside while ''still conscious'', or even being twisted and "reborn" into something else entirely--a creature devoted to Rot whose only purpose is to spread more Rot. Any potential cure for the Rot is also not known to the population at large; the only commonly known method to prevent it is to KillItWithFire before it can spread.
* FesteringFungus: The Scarlet Rot is heavily affiliated with fungus, with the fungal-like growths across the surface of Caelid and some of the infectees having their heads replaced by giant mushrooms. Interestingly, the way the fungi are arranged and grow alongside other flora resembles a coral reef (albiet a twisted, horrifying version of one).
* FlowerMotifs: The Scarlet Rot is strongly associated with flowers, [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterflies, and the cycle of decay and birth]]. While Scarlet Rot typically kills most things infected ([[DeaderThanDead physically and mentally]]), certain compatible individuals will instead mutate into a creature of rot, a process described as "blooming". Malenia is also accompanied with what appears to be rotten butterflies when she lets her Scarlet Rot "bloom" unleashed, and her ultimate rot incantation, the Scarlet Aeonia, creates an eerily beautiful flower-shaped explosion of infectious mist.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Zigzagged.
** Judging from the fact the only means to alleviate Scarlet Rot build up or cure the status in the game are 4 specific consumables and spells: Preserving Bolus [[note]]which requires rare materials, including one, the Sacramental Bud, that doesn't respawn and can only be farmed as a rare drop from land octopi and dogs in the Writheblood Ruins[[/note]], Speckled Hardtear [[note]]A crystal tear formed in places where Erdtree's droplets fall for long periods of time[[/note]], Flame Cleanse Me spell [[note]]An Incantation invented by the Fire Monks who had turned against Golden Order by worshipping the Flame of the Fell God they were supposed to guard, which burns the body with flames to cure ailments[[/note]] and Law of Regression spell [[note]]one of the most advanced Incantations in Golden Order Fundamentalism, which devotees like Goldmask isn't even able to cast due to being based on Intelligence[[/note]]. The recipes of said consumables are generally ''nowhere'' near any area where the Scarlet Rot runs rampant, while the spells are either heretical to be learned (Flame Cleanse Me) or too ''advanced'' for average practitioners (Law of Regression), meaning it is possible the Scarlet Rot isn't so much incurable as much as the means to cure it being effectively unavailable to most victims who catch it.
** However, the Scarlet Rot can definitively kill the consciousness of immortal beings like demigods and dragons, even infecting Erdtree avatars. As such, the fact gameplay Scarlet Rot can be expunged by simply resting at a site of grace, and that the player's Tarnished respawns as normal after dying to it both mean this trope still applies.
** While unstated, we have pretty clear signs that there are just two kinds of Scarlet Rot infection: acute (HP drops very quickly, will eventually go away if you don't die, the patient functions more or less normally while it's active until they drop dead, can be cured with a bolus or spell) and chronic (slowly rot away over the course of years, excruciating and debilitating pain and reduced level of consciousness and memory, seemingly-incurable). Malenia, Millicent, Radahn, and a bunch of random enemies have the latter, while the former is what can be inflicted in-game with Rot spells and "cured" with the aforementioned methods. The in-game Scarlet Rot status effect rapidly drains health and can kill anything (the damage is percentage-based) without the intervention of magic,[[note]]16.2% Max HP + 1350 damage per proc over 90 seconds for weapon greases and rot pots. 29.7% Max HP + 1170 damage over 90 seconds some of your spells. ''990%'' Max HP + 7,800 damage per proc over 300 seconds for Malenia's uniquely potent version.[[/note]] but it only retains that form for some one to several minutes, after which it will cease to have an effect (you could simply survive it by out-healing the damage, for example). Meanwhile multiple in-universe characters are dealing with long-term infections that don't kill anywhere near as rapidly but are much more difficult to remove. Backing this is the fact that you ''can'' inflict the acute version on characters who are already dying of the chronic version, and the result is a very clear visual difference on their models, usually followed by them dying in seconds (this is especially easy to do on Radahn, who [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration at this point]] has extremely low Rot resistance to the point 1 Rot Pot will proc the status).
* GodzillaThreshold: Radahn's soldiers have largely abandoned the Shattering, instead devoting everything they have to prevent the Rot from spreading beyond Caelid, even as it strains their resources and leaves them vulnerable to other armies.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While mostly unrelated to the main plotline other than being another source of dangerous monsters the Tarnished has to face, it is firmly the fundamental cause of Miquella and Malenia's subplot alongside the more direct Mohg, as it choosing Malenia as its new avatar caused the demigod woman great pain all her life, and drove Miquella's motivations to find a definitive way to ward off the influence of Outer Gods. After Miquella is kidnapped by Mohg and Malenia loses her dignity in the fight against Radahn, the Scarlet Rot is free to ravage Caelid and the Haligtree to apocalyptic results and turn them into breeding grounds for rot-born creatures.
* HostileTerraforming: As an alien god that seeks to reshape the entire world in its own bizarre and inhospitable image, the Rot is Elden Ring's poster-entity for this trope. Caelid, the site of the great Scarlet Rot outbreak of the Shattering, almost looks like another planet, complete with an [[AlienSky ominous red sky]].
* LeakingCanOfEvil: The Rot is sealed inside the Lake of Rot, but is still very much capable of interacting with the world at large, from corrupting Malenia in the womb to creating small pockets of Rot throughout the Lands Between.
* LossOfIdentity: One of the most feared aspects of the Scarlet Rot is that it doesn't just kill you, it erases your very sense of self. Radahn, once a proud and honorable general, has been reduced to a guttural, feral monster eating the corpses of friend and foe alike. Millicent ultimately decides she would rather [[DyingAsYourself die with her memories and ego intact]] than let the Rot take her and erase her sense of being.
* LostInTranslation: It's essentially the god of ''kegare'', a Shinto concept of spiritual uncleanliness that doesn't really have a Western equivalent, broadly translated as defilement, impurity or corruption, though not necessarily moral, and in fact sources of kegare can be fully natural like (as seen in the Scarlet Rot) disease and corpses. Several item descriptions (such as soap) give short explanations of kegare, but you'll still have to be somewhat familiar with Shinto to get the connection between things like still water and centipedes that are associated with the Rot, and why flowing water opposes it.
* MysticalPlague: The Scarlet Rot is both the most feared disease in the history of the Lands Between and also the manifestation of a partially-sealed outer god. It's even capable of infecting wholly inorganic beings, such as Crystalians, or ''metaphysical concepts without tangible form'' like the Great Runes. Going by gameplay, the only things immune to it are lifeless constructs that never had organic material to rot nor a mind to lose (golems, Edtree Burial Watchdogs, etc.- Crystalians don't count because they are sentient beings), illusions, projections, and other such things that aren't really there (Margit, Golden Shade Godfrey, Mohg the Omen), or beings that are completely divine and thus out of the Rot's purview (Radagon & Elden Beast).
* NonIndicativeName: Despite repeatedly being described with {{Flower Motif}}s, the Rot has far more in common with fungi then any sort of flora. This appears to be a reference to real world botanical history, as mushrooms were originally categorized as a type of flower before science advanced enough to recognise the differences.
* NothingIsScarier: We know the "god that was Rot itself" has [[PhysicalGod a physical form]], and we know it's buried beneath or nearby the Lake of Rot but that is it. We don't know what it looks like other than the fact it is possibly a scorpion, how long it's been there and if it has any chance of escaping. We're not even entirely sure what it is, considering the sealed away presence could be anything from a vassal of the outer god similar to the Elden Beast (considered a god in its own right), a previously chosen champion acting as a proxy much like Malenia (who gets called "Goddess of Rot" in her second phase), or even the outer god itself.
* PhysicalGod: The Scorpion's Stinger weapon confirms whatever divine presence is currently sealed beneath the Lake of Rot is a physical being, quite possibly a giant scarlet scorpion if the description is anything to go by [[note]]it's "a ceremonial tool used by heretics, crafted from the relic of a sealed outer god"; 'relic' in religious contexts indicates a body part of a holy being[[/note]], while the description of the Lake of Rot map says "the divine essence of an outer god is sealed away in this land." The Blue Dancer Charm also states a blind swordmaster had defeated this god ages ago, but was only able to seal it away, rather than kill it. However, as described in NothingIsScarier above, the true nature of this ancient god remains unclear.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Blue Dancer Charm talisman describes a legend in which a fairy bestowed a sword to a [[HeroOfAnotherStory blind swordsman]], who defeated and sealed way an ancient god of Rot itself. The location of where it was sealed is not known, though it's likely near the Lake of Rot. However, [[LeakingCanOfEvil the Scarlet Rot can still bless Malenia to become its proxy and spread the rot.]]
* ShoutOut: With Gowry's quest being a WholePlotReference to the poem ''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/19/Edward_gorey_insect_god_by_insectgod-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190610003409 Insect God]]'' by Edward Gorey (note that "Gowry" and "Gorey" are spelled the same in Japanese), the Rot's Kindred resembling giant arthropods and its physical form under the Lake of Rot resembling a tailed insectoid (going by the Scorpion's Stinger) is probably also meant as a reference to it.
* UndergroundMonkey: Many minibosses throughout Caelid are familiar enemies reskinned and recolored to reflect their corruption by Scarlet Rot; usually they gain the ability to spread Rot as an attack while gaining a weakness to fire. These creatures usually have the appellation "Putrid" by their name. Notably, even the servants of fellow outer gods aren't immune; Putrid Erdtree Avatars, which serve the Greater Will, exist, and there are a trio of Putrid Crystalians, alien life-forms affiliated with the Dark Moon.
* WeakToFire: The Rot's biggest weakness is that its very, ''very'' weak to fire. Radahn's Lordsworn have put this to good use, wielding torches and flaming weapons, using walls of smoldering stone to stave off the Rot's spread, and even burning an entire ''church'' at the entrance to Limgrave to prevent the Rot from spreading there. They also make use of the Fire Monks' Flame Chariots.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Frenzied Flame]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Flames of Chaos, Yelough
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lord_of_chaos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lord of Chaos, [[TheAntichrist avatar of cleansing]].]]
The migrants of the Great Caravan were never loved by the inhabitants of the Lands Between. Suspicious and hateful of the outsiders, the denizens of the land eventually turned on them ''en masse'', with accusations of wickedness and heresy. Falling upon the Great Caravan, the denizens of the Lands Between destroyed their home and massacred them, culminating in a terrible act of cruelty: thousands of nomads were executed by being BuriedAlive. The few survivors were scattered to the winds. Broken, consumed by despair and hatred, the survivors [[ThenLetMeBeEvil decided to embrace the moniker of heresy they could not escape]]. They called out for something, ''anything,'' to unleash destruction upon the Lands Between in retribution, consequences be damned...\\
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...[[GoneHorriblyRight and the Frenzied Flame answered them.]]\\
\\
An outer god associated with madness, knowledge, chaos, eyes, retribution, and the color yellow, the Frenzied Flame forgoes the usual machinations of other outer gods. It does not seek to form cults or establish dominion, though a few worshippers have nevertheless embraced it, pockets of violent madness standing out in an already violent world. The Frenzied Flame's foremost agent to spread its knowledge is Shabriri, the most reviled man in history, who blasphemed against the Golden Order and preached chaos and retribution. Though Shabriri was killed, the Frenzied Flame didn't let him die; he remains, able to BodySurf between corpses by dint of the Flame's power. More dangerous than Shabriri is the Three Fingers -- eerie counterparts to the Greater Will's Two Fingers -- manifested to serve a similar role to the Two Fingers; seek someone with the potential to inherit the will and power of the Flame to become the Lord of Chaos, as a true expression of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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Modern adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, yet they boast an impossible well of knowledge and are occasionally possessed of a disturbingly serene lucidity. One, Hyetta of Liurnia, is being groomed by the followers of the Flame to become a Finger Maiden to the Three Fingers. Hyetta claims that the Frenzied Flame despises the Greater Will for fragmenting an ancient source of life, the "One Great," to create the lesser forms of life -- from humans to animals to plants -- that populate the Lands Between. The Frenzied Flame would see the One Great restored, a wish that necessitates the eradication of all forms of life and the scorching of the entire world by the fires of the Frenzied Flame.\\
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So feared and reviled is the Frenzied Flame and its goal of universal destruction that all who have been uncorrupted by its influence oppose it. Its mortal adherents remained isolated, despised, and shunned, and the Three Fingers were imprisoned in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the Royal Capital, sealed by followers of the Greater Will. Still, the Three Fingers remain there even now, waiting for the one who would free them and become Lord of Chaos.\\
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Should the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] embrace the Three Fingers and become the Lord of Chaos, the Golden Order is supplanted entirely and the Frenzied Flame achieves its goal of bringing its purifying flames to all life that exists, culminating in the '''Lord of Frenzied Flame''' ending.
----
* AmbiguousSituation: Its name may or may not be Yelough, which would make it the only Outer God with a name, but it's never given an explicit confirmation. Yelough only appears three times in the whole game, once as the "Eyes of Yelough" plant that appears in locations affected by the Flame of Frenzy, another time in the Yelough Anix Ruins, which has Frenzied Flame worshippers in it, and the nearby Yelough Anix Tunnels, which has nothing to do with the Frenzied Flame in either its design, enemies or boss (who is instead an Astel).
* TheAntiGod: The Frenzied Flame is the closest equivalent to an Anti-Greater Will. Whereas the Greater Will encompasses life, immortality, vegetation and order, the Frenzied Flame represents the end of life, destruction, flame, and chaos, and both employ their own 'Fingers' to choose a vessel to use as a pawn in their schemes. Out of all the Outer Gods at least presently active, the Frenzied Flame and the Greater Will have the most directly antagonistic relation.
* AssimilationPlot: Its most likely end goal. Shabriri and the Frenzied Spirit talk about "incinerat[ing] all that divides and distinguishes" and if Hyetta is given the words of the Three Fingers, she explains that as the Frenzied Flame sees it, all life was once the "One Great" who the Greater Will divided up to make life and souls as humans know them. The Frenzied Flame thinks that this was a mistake that led only to suffering, so it seeks to melt everything back into its original form as the One Great.
* TheBadGuyWins: If the Tarnished inherits the Frenzied Flame, they'll become the Lord of Chaos who will burn the Elden Ring, the Erdtree and likely all life, which -- whatever [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the motives]] might be -- is what the Three Fingers and its master want achieved.
* BodyMotifs: Eyes. The Frenzied Flame inflicts EyeScream on its adherents, but even as they lose their sight, they are filled with knowledge beyond mortal ken -- suggesting that they must lose their sight of the tangible world to gain true knowledge.
* BodyHorror: The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with eyes -- or rather, the lack of eyes. Humans and animals touched by it have their eyes burned out, jets of yellow fire emerging from the empty sockets in their place, and the swollen, pus-filled eyeballs are fed to adherents as "grapes".
* BrownNote: An unusual example; the Fingerprint Stone Shield is heavily implied to be branded by the Three Fingers with its fingerprints, serving as "messages". Getting bashed by this shield causes Madness build up, suggesting the mere act of ''touching'' the fingerprints causes Frenzy to spread onto you.
* ChaosIsEvil: "Evil" might be stretching it for a formless, alien deity, but its goals would certainly result in the death of all living things and its followers are threatening and sinister. The Frenzied Flame is heavily associated with chaos, to the point of occasionally being ''known'' as the Flame of Chaos, and Shabriri desires for chaos to take the world. Interestingly, the Frenzied Flame's desire to return life to its primordial state of the One Great gives it some affiliation with the original definition of chaos as well as the modern version.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Even more so than any of the other Outer Gods, openly speading madness, destruction, and corruption.
* TheCorruption: The Frenzied Flame, while less extensively spread than the Scarlet Rot, causes the animals and people that it touches to go insane and infused with the flame itself, and causes unnatural fruits and vegetation like the Eyes of Yelough to grow.
* CrazySane: Adherents of the Frenzied Flame grow mad, sometimes violently so, but also gain tremendous insight and wisdom of ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow.
* DespairEventHorizon: The Frenzied Flame seems drawn to people who cross it and begin to curse the world. The Great Caravan is the most notable example, but Castellan Edgar's questline ends with him infected by it as well, after his desire to avenge his beloved daughter degrades into murdering random travelers. Frenzied Flame incantations are also used by certain Leyndell soldiers on Mt. Gelmir, where the most horrific battle of the Shattering was (and sort of still is being) fought.
* EarnYourBadEnding: The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending is treated as a proper BadEnding, with Melina abandoning the Tarnished and all life [[WorldWreckingWave being scorched by the Frenzied Flame.]] It's also eminently avoidable: the game piles hint upon hint that the Frenzied Flame is bad news, only growing more obvious the closer the player gets to the Three Fingers, culminating in an [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically passionate]] plea from Melina to not pursue this action. Even if the player embraces the Three Fingers, they can purge the Frenzied Flame using Miquella's Needle, meaning that if the ending is achieved, it is certifiably the player's fault.
* {{Expy}}: Of Hastur as the King in Yellow, specifically his depiction in later ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' RPG sourcebooks: a yellow-colored force of entropy from the cosmos who spreads madness to his cult of followers, is empowered by negative human emotion, and takes various avatars to increase its power in the land. The [[https://i.imgur.com/LK67V7q.png Frenzy sigil even looks like the Yellow Sign.]] Note that Hidetaka Miyazaki is a self-admitted fan of ''Call of Cthulhu'', has cited nondescript tabletop [=RPGs=] as one of his main inspirations for ''Elden Ring'', and that one of the locations hosting Frenzy in-game is called the Yelough Anix Ruins.[[note]]Yelough is obviously an alternate spelling of yellow, while "anax" means king in Greek. Yellow King Ruins.[[/note]]
* EvilIsBurningHot: A deity of omnicidal mania that primarily manifests as mind-destroying yellow fire.
* EyeBeams: Most Frenzied Flame incantations involve blasting gouts of flame from your eyes.
* EyeScream: The first symptom of the Frenzied Flame taking hold (aside from murderous insanity), is the eyes growing diseased, swollen, and yellow. Either the eyes fall out intact (or get clawed out by their owners) and become Shabriri Grapes, or just straight up ''burst'' and become Yellow Embers, with the afflicted getting FireballEyeballs in their place. Hyetta eats Shabriri Grapes to feel the 'distant light' (i.e. the Three Fingers), and once she does find it and receives the Three Fingers' wisdom, she says that her eyes are ''melting''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Uniquely the only Outer God that doesn't appear to want one of [[TheChosenOne the Empyreans]] as its vassal, being seemingly content with any host strong enough to not completely lose their mind upon being touched by the flame.
* GoneHorriblyRight: The Frenzied Flame was awakened by the survivors of the Great Caravan. While some of the wandering merchants descended from the Caravan do seem to be adherents and will even use Frenzy abilities if aggroed, others seem to fear the Frenzied Flame just as much as anyone else, with one nomad in Liurnia outright warning the player from approaching the Frenzied Flaming Village to the northeast. It seems these nomads realized something that would kill all life would include ''them'' in the "all life" category.
* LightIsNotGood: The Frenzied Flame, as expected of a god of fire, is heavily associated with light. It's yellow flames can be seen lighting the darkness, and Hyetta refers to a "light behind her eyes" as she is slowly corrupted into serving as its Finger Maiden. Its association with knowledge also fits the trope per the familiar concept of the "light of knowledge". Yet the Frenzied Flame is an OmnicidalManiac which wishes to put all living things to the torch.
* MysticalPlague: The Frenzied Flame is contagious, though to a lesser extent than the Scarlet Rot. The whole point of its various incantations is to spread it to others. In gameplay this just kills them, but whole villages overtaken by the Frenzied Flame can be encountered while traveling, guarded by soldiers with a yellow flame painted on their shields to warn people away from them.
* NothingIsScarier: Like the Scarlet Rot, despite the spread of Frenzy and its madness in certain regions of the Lands Between and how universally reviled its influence is, remarkably little is known about its origin. While it supposedly first appeared to the Great Caravan, there are certain hints such as the existence of Cathedral of the Forsaken suggesting the Frenzy "sprouted" forth from the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers, who served an ancient god supposedly buried in the sacred tomb of frenzy acolytes. Like with Scarlet Rot, it is never made clear what this god is supposed to be -- possibilities include a previous Lord of Chaos or a vassal higher ranked than the Three Fingers, who is never referred to as a god even by frenzy adherents -- or if it is even ''dead''.
* NotQuiteDead: The Cathedral of the Forsaken is heavily implied to be a tomb housing an ancient god who originated the seeds from which Frenzied Flame sprouted forth. But given the Frenzy influnce is very much present and active in the Lands Between ever since the Great Caravan awakened it, this raises serious doubts if the deity is truly dead.
* OmnicidalManiac: The Frenzied Flame plays with this trope. Its flames only exist to [[TheCorruption corrupt all life and the land with Frenzy]], with Shabriri claiming its purpose is [[ChaosIsEvil spread chaos to the world]]. However, while its objective certainly involves killing all life, Hyetta claims it actually desires [[AssimilationPlot to melt them all back to their primordial form]], a being who is called "One Great". Thus, while the Frenzied Flame's influence is omnicidal, it isn't necessarily because it wants life itself gone -- simply restored to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality what it considers proper]]. Of course, for all things currently living, the difference is mainly academic.
* PhysicalGod: Apart from the many forms of TheCorruption which Frenzied Flame can cause, the Outer God who originated Frenzy appears to have had a physical manifestation at some point in ancient history, as the Fingerprint Stone Shield found in the Cathedral of the Forsaken explicitly mentions it was part of the tomb of an ancient god. As NothingIsScarier above has explained, the nature of this god is more or less RiddleForTheAges.
* PowerBornOfMadness: As noted, the Frenzied Flame is strongly associated with frenzy, madness, and [[CrazySane insight through insanity]]. The Great Caravan merchants were blessed with the maddening flame when their minds fractured from crossing the DespairEventHorizon, Maidens of the Three Fingers are trained to develop clarity through madness, and incantations of Frenzied Flames involve producing fire through the eyes -- or to be more precise, ''the mind'' -- so much so that a fully realized Lord of Chaos has their heads burn away into a ''sentient ball of flame'', implying their mind is ''literally'' burning with Frenzy.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: While the Flame itself (allegedly) just wants to burn the world back to its primordial state, the people who wield it have usually crossed the DespairEventHorizon and just want to burn the world. This would have been most pronounced in Kalé's cut questline, in which his discovery of the massacre of the Great Caravan led him to beg the player to use the Frenzied Flame they called up to destroy everything, after trying and failing to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil do so himself]] (he reached the Three Fingers but they didn't accept him as a Lord). Hyetta also claims that all of the people who gave her "grapes" felt such despair as to wish they were never born.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: According to Hyetta, the Frenzied Flame believes the Greater Will was mistaken in creating individuality, life and souls in the Lands Between by dividing the One Great, and that it was this action which brought about all suffering, afflictions and curses. Their primary goal is to struggle against the Greater Will and its forces and undo this mistake by [[AssimilationPlot melting everything in the world back as one]].
* RecurringElement: Like the Dark Soul and its followers, most notably Kaathe, in the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, the Frenzied Flame is the antithetical power of the TopGod of the setting (Gwyn and the First Flame in Dark Souls, Marika and the Greater Will in this game) that promises a great change to the world order and to elevate the PlayerCharacter into the lord of the new age - ''un''like the Dark Soul, which was ambiguous in its danger at best, the game doesn't hide that the Frenzied Flame is a purely negative entity and its path is a case of EarnYourBadEnding.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Despite item descriptions saying that it only affects humans, there are also frenzied ''rats'' encountered in and around the Ailing Village and Frenzied Flame Village. Presumably this is because they ate the corpses of frenzied humans (i.e. the same reason rats drop Humanity in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls1'').
* StrawNihilist: Not the Outer God itself, who at least seems to be following a 'higher' purpose in its mass genocide, but its worshippers and servants definetly count. None of them other than Hyetta seem to care about the Frenzied Flame's AssimilationPlot, and are more in it to cause chaos to ravage the world and kill everyone due to a mix of despair-caused madness and nihilism.
* ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: This is the Flame's specialty. The more thoroughly its followers are touched by its madness, the more impossible insight they gain -- culminating in Shabriri bellowing that chaos should take the world and Hyetta asserting that all life is a mistake that needs to be corrected.
* UndergroundMonkey: Several types of enemies have variants that are afflicted with the Frenzied Flame and attack with Frenzied Flame incantations. These include the Cuckoo troops at the Frenzied Flame village and some of the Leyendell Soldiers at Mt. Gelmir.
* UnusualEuphemism: The swollen, chaos-filled eyeballs that its adherents feed to would-be Finger Maidens are euphemistically referred to as "grapes," seemingly because the Eye of Yelough, a corrupted plant touched by the Frenzied Flame, grows grape-like fruits that look similar to human eyes. Hyetta, at least, had no clue what she was actually eating until told by the PlayerCharacter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Formless Mother]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth, The Blood Star
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_mohgwyn_palace_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mohgwyn Palace, lair of her slaves]]
Mohg was one of the children of Marika and Godfrey. Born an Omen, he was hated and despised, sent in shackles to the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital alongside his brother, Morgott. While both brothers eventually escaped the Shunning-Grounds and rejoined society at large, Mohg was not so fast to reconcile as his brother. Going into hiding, Mohg saw the Shattering as an opportunity to seize power and gain dominion over the Lands Between. To do that, he would need the influence of an outer god to challenge the Greater Will -- and so he called upon the Formless Mother.\\
\\
One of the newer gods to arrive to influence the Lands Between, the Formless Mother, also known as the Mother of Truth, is heavily tied to Mohg and his ambitions. The Mother is, as she is described, a shapeless god without form; she is associated heavily with blood, pain, wounds, murder, violence, and an extremely twisted form of love and affection. Craving agony of her own, the Mother grants power to adherents who injure her; her burning blood emerges from injuries to manifest in the mortal realm, scalding those who earn her followers' ire. Every incantation of the followers of blood is in fact a ritualistic injury inflicted upon their insatiable god. Mohg, the Mother's earthly champion, has been granted burning blood of his own, a "gift" the Formless Mother has also bestowed on his twin brother Morgott -- whether he wants it or not.\\
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Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between.
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* AmbiguousGender: The Formless Mother is the only outer god referred to with gendered pronouns or titles, including in item and incantation descriptions. Still, it's up in the air whether a formless deity that exists outside of space can even ''have'' a gender in the human understanding of the term, and Mohg may simply be projecting onto her.
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** She's implied to have some relation to Omens and their 'accursed blood', but it's not known how much. She chose an Omen as her prime apostle, and Mohg is described to have had his accursed blood set on fire when he encountered her, and the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear describes her as an "outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood." Notably, Morgott's cursed sword also has an effect similiar to Bloodflame, which is an odd standout on his otherwise holy-themed arsenal. It's not known if she's just, in an Outer God's twisted way, sympathetic to the Omens, if she finds their cursed blood just a convenient way to exert her influence, or if she's somehow the ''origin'' of said cursed blood.
** Some members of the Fire Monks wield a type of magic called Thorn Sorcery that summons blood-red barbs and briars from their self-inflicted wounds, the similar motifs (as well as the art's focus on [[CombatSadomasochist self-inflicted suffering]]) strongly imply the "Blood Star" that taught these monks in their dreams is actually the Mother.
* ArcVillain: As she's responsible for bestowing Mohg her power and his dream of reshaping Miquella as his consort. This makes her a [[GreaterScopeVillain greater scope variant]] for Miquella and Malenia's story since as an Outer God she's never dealt with directly. [[OutOfFocus She doesn't have much relevance to Elden Ring's story otherwise.]]
* BadBoss: Potentially to Mohg. He seems to view himself as an ascendant BigBad with the favor of an obedient patron deity, but ''any'' denizen of the Lands Between is at risk of misinterpreting [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the whims of an outer god.]] It's worth noting that Mohg's belief that his patron would resurrect Miquella led to Miquella's death, thus depriving the Greater Will one of its Empyreans, and despite all the HumanSacrifice, Miquella ''still'' hasn't come back.
* BloodMagic: The source of the Blood Oath school of Incantations, which consists of casters ''literally carving into her body and ripping out her veins'' to do things like create sprays of blood that burst into flames or summon swarms of flies. She can also harness the blood of living beings as a medium to manifest her power, and seems to be fond of bloodshed just for bloodshed's sake, giving Mohg a cult which promotes killing in her name. Her followers maim themselves using her blood, and use these injuries to invade and kill other Tarnished in their name and in hers.
* BodyHorror: If you can consider the air around Mohg to be her "body", then he's inflicting this on her constantly. Every spell he uses is caused by quickly mutilating the Mother and using her blood as a weapon.
* CombatSadomasochist: An odd example, as her sadomasochism is used for ''others''' combat. Using any Blood spell is described as causing a wound to the Formless Mother, causing her blood to manifest for the caster to manipulate. The Formless Mother actively ''encourages'' her followers to use her like this.
* CompleteImmortality: Implied. The Formless Mother is technically the only Outer God the players can 'harm' through the use of Blood Oath spells and Mohg's spear, stabbing through a red portal and splashing her blood onto your enemies; of course, she ''craves'' wounds, and is a cosmic beings of such proportions that human-inflicted wounds would never be able to kill her, if such a thing is even possible.
* TheCorruption: A subtler example compared to other Outer Gods, but still present: animals corrupted by her influence grow bloody warts all over their body similiar in appearance but distinct from creatures corrupted by the Scarlet Rot, and causes them to inflict magically-induced bleeding. On humanoids, or at least Albinaurics, her blood corruption causes the skin to turn blood-red and grow small horns on their heads, and allows them to (painfully) channel blood magic with their own bodies. She seems to have an effect on the land as well, as areas influenced by the Bloody Fingers have huge clumps of solid, seemingly coagulated blood ammassed on the ground.
* EvilIsVisceral: A deity associated with cruelty, blood, and murder, the base of operations for her followers is a ''lake'' of bubbling blood led by a grotesque monster with a horn [[EyeScream growing into his eye!]]
* HumanSacrifice: Her followers commit murder to empower themselves and her as well, and Mohg at least believes that with enough sacrifical blood, Miquella will be reborn into a biddable puppet.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The Mother and her followers express love and affection (which, for her followers at least, appears to be genuine in an extremely twisted way) by viciously harming and abusing the targets of their desires. This extends to the Mother herself, who craves wounds and whose followers ecstaticly maim and injure her formless body as a sign of devotion.
* MythologyGag: The Formless Mother is very likely a reference to [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Formless Oedon]]. Other than the similar epithet, they're both eldritch gods heavily associated with blood, both are tied to a slumbering infant god, both are associated with a [[AnimeCatholicism Catholic aesthetic]] (Oedon having chapels dedicated to him, the Formless Mother's main spot of worship being a fortified cathedral), both are the figures of worship of a ReligionOfEvil focused on blood and whose leader aspires to ascend to godhood, and both are completely physically absent from their respective games.
* NonIndicativeName: Her alternate title, the "Mother of Truth". Her adherents are secretive and deceptive, and she herself is implied to be manipulating Mohg.
* OneBadMother: One of the most overtly malevolent deities in the setting is called the "Formless Mother."
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The primary color scheme of a god associated with blood and murder is, you guessed it, red and black.
* {{Sadist}}: Mohg's overtly sexual and very depraved intentions for Miquella color a lot of what we know of the Formless Mother as well. She seems to enjoy receiving wounds, not unlike a real-life masochist, but her followers use her burning blood to maim and kill on her behalf, and seem to take pleasure in doing so. As seen in {{Yandere}} below, adherents of the Formless Mother almost seem incapable of differentiating between cruelty and affection.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As an Omen, Mohg was looked at as a demon and shunned by society. The Formless Mother encouraged him to become the monster that everyone saw him as.
* {{Yandere}}: Both of the major emissaries of the Formless Mother, Mohg and Varre, have a twisted and disturbing obsession with "love," and seem to think that the primary way to show it is through inflicting pain. That the Mother's followers show fealty to her by maiming her, and that she welcomes and even ''craves'' these wounds, indicate that it's a mindset learned from their patron goddess.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The God of the Twinbird]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' Ghostflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/y2dhscj0l4w81.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twimbird]]
Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, who only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
\\
After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.
----
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. The Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Similar to the Moon, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The [[MonsterProgenitor Twinbird]] that arrived in The Lands Between in ancient times was probably not a "bird" as we understand the concept. Going by associated iconography, it had two heads, black and red feathers and it was ''huge''. If the description of it descending down from the heavens is literal, then [[FantasyAliens it flew through space from another world to get here.]] Somehow it mothered the Deathbirds, these freaky living skeletons that can control the blackflame, despite being the only one of its kind. Most disturbing of all, it has the ability to influence the souls of those who die in The Lands Between and can even control them with its unique powers.
* AnimalMotifs: Heavily associated with birds, especially carrion birds like crows and vultures which are frequently misunderstood scavengers; this ties into the belief that death is a natural part of life. Notably, the Deathbirds look vaguely like grotesque vulture chicks.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Its is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) and the Eclipse Shotel can inflict the crushing Deathblight.
* GodOfTheDead: Described as an God of death, its adepts practice necromancy, used ghostflame and sorcery linked to death and his vassals used to guide the souls of the dead before the era of the erdtree.
* HumanSacrifice: The Sacrificial Axe mentions that sacrificial rituals were part of the cult of the Deathbirds, but does not explore what exactly was sacrificed. The Red and Blue-Feathered Branchsword adds that, at the very least, followers offered themselves in some death rituals, in order to obtain a "glorious end" and give "a death worth offering".
* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
* NotAfraidToDie: Most of the information on the subject indicated that death was considered sacred by the followers of the Deathbirds. They didn't seem to be afraid of dying; quite the contrary, they were willing to embrace their own death in the hope of being resurrected into something better.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The deathbirds are said to guard the ashes of the dead and guide them, and have command over wandering spirits with the power of ghostflame.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Subtle, but the elements are present. The oldest known death worship in the Lands Between (''"In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame."'') came from the Deathbirds, and they were known for burning the remains of the dead with their ghostflame and raking their ashes -- a ''role'' meant to be. Ancient priests who became guardians of these birds also went through the "rite of Death" to mark their oaths, sworn to a distant resurrection -- an oath sworn ''duty''.
* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones and feels cold to the touch.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]
Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\
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At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\
\\
In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\
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Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\
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Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
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* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.
[[/folder]]
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* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and his signature ghost flame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
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* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and his it signature ghost flame.ghostflame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
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* Necromancy: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and his signature ghost flame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
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* Necromancy: {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and his signature ghost flame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
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Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
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Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, who only appear at night or Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
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This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, who only appear at night night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\
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* Necromancy: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and his signature ghost flame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.
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[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the twimbird]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the twimbird]]Twimbird]]
