Elden Ring: Roundtable Hold / Characters

This page details the major NPCs encountered within or who relocate towards the Roundtable Hold.

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Roundtable Hold

Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing

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Voiced by: Joe McGann

"As a Tarnished who wishes to stand before the Elden Ring and become Elden Lord, I am accumulating knowledge. To be all-knowing."

Leader of the Tarnished champions who make the Roundtable Hold their home.

Abusive Parents: Zig-Zagged. His relationship with his adopted daughter Nepheli Loux is... complicated. He sees her more as an asset than family, even considering her to be a "mere axe-wielding barbarian.” But despite this he sees potential in her and would hate to see it squandered, so it’s not a surprise that he’s none too pleased when Seluvis wants to turn her into his next “puppet,” which even Gideon sees as morally reprehensible and volunteers to help you trick Seluvis in exchange for leaving Nepheli alone. Gideon is also harsh when punishing her, such as when she unknowingly fought against his men that slaughtered the Village of the Albinaurics, which leads to him casting her out for having ruined his plans for acquiring the Haligtree Medallion. Even then, if you help her become the new Lord of Limgrave he’ll personally thank you. Needless to say he’s not the greatest parent out there, but at least he’ll keep an eye on her well-being and wants her to develop into a better person, even if they don’t see eye to eye at times.
Affably Evil: Once you've collected one Great Rune, Gideon warms up to you quite a bit. He gives you advice on finding the other shardbearers and generally treats you with respect. If he kills you in his boss battle, he refers to you as his "fellow" and compliments you on making it as far as you did, showing that his respect for you was genuine.
Ambiguous Situation: One of the rewards that Gideon will exchange to you for information on the shardbearers is a book that teaches you how to craft Bewitching Branches. He loathes the idea of turning people into permanent mind controlled slaves, yet has access to an item that can momentarily compel someone to care about him. This makes it unknown if he held on to the book for mere curiosity’s sake as a scholar or because he doesn’t mind controlling someone for only a short moment — which could be useful for interrogating someone to gather intel.
Anti-Villain: Gideon makes it clear that he’s determined to become the next Elden lord, that one day you will come into conflict with him for control over the Lands Between, and he has zero problems using shady methods to get what he wants. However, he will acknowledge with respect those who are skilled and determined to become the next Elden Lord themselves, plus he’s willing to trade valuable rewards with those who share their knowledge on anything regarding the Shard Bearers.
The Archmage: Gideon is an Archlich, one who is a master of both Sorcery as well as Incantations and wields several abilities used by powerful casters in the Lands Between. He also makes good use of the knowledge he gains throughout his travels as well as whatever his followers bring back to him, including any information on the Shard Bearers you share with him in return for valuable rewards. Notably he can cast Comet Azur, a legendary hidden sorcery with an INT requirement of 60.
Aristocrats Are Evil: Downplayed. The fact that he refers to Nepheli as a "determined plebeian" implies he's part of the Blue Blood who look down on commoners, but he will acknowledge those who are skilled regardless of their origins.
Back from the Dead: The opening cutscene shows he died and was entombed at some point before the Shattering, but along with the rest of the Tarnished lives again from stray shards of grace.
Badass Bookworm: He’s seen reading often within his personal room, a library, in the Roundtable Hold. But that doesn't mean he's a pushover; he’s the leader of the Roundtable Hold for good reasons.
Beam Spam: In his boss fight he has infinite FP and knows the strongest spells in the game. He particularly likes to spam Glintstone Cometshard and Triple Ring of Light.
Body Motifs: His armor set has an eye and ear motif, symbolizing his status as "The All-Knowing". Even his burial vault, as shown in the intro, is filled with decorative carvings that resemble ears and eyes.
Brutal Honesty: He's honest to the Tarnished about his shady dealings if confronted about them, but never expresses anything other than frank apathy.
Caught Monologuing: During his confrontation, he goes into a monologue about his revelations about Queen Marika, but there's nothing stopping you from locking onto him immediately and starting the fight. If you get the first hit in, he'll fight normally without interrupting his monologue.
The Chessmaster: He refers to his followers as “pawns” and sets multiple plans into motion in order to further his goal of becoming Elden Lord. And while many of these plans may fail, he’s able to adjust his plans on the fly so he can profit from them instead.
Combat Pragmatist: Despite his religious devotion, Gideon has no issues with spamming heretical arts like Blackflame, Rot, and Bloodflame incantations to get an edge.
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Gideon can cast spells and incantations without needing to replenish his mana. And since his arsenal contains several hard hitting attacks whose normal drawback is a high mana cost, he can obliterate your health while also hitting you with different damage types in case you try to cater your defenses towards stopping a particular spell of his.
Cool Helmet: His helmet uses spikes, ears, and eyes as its motif.
Despair Event Horizon: Whatever he learns after the Erdtree burns horrifies him into believing that anyone trying to become Elden Lord will initiate “the end that must not be.”
Gideon Ofnir: I know...in my bones...A Tarnished can not become a Lord. Not even you. A man cannot kill a god...
Determinator: Underhanded as his actions may be, Gideon is the only Tarnished other than the player character and Hourah Loux that is still seeking the throne of Elden Lord by the time the game starts, in a time where all other Tarnished either lost sight of grace or gave up on its guidance. Which makes it all the more shocking when, despite a path inside the Erdtree being opened, he discovers something that utterly breaks his spirit and makes him decide that nobody should become Elden Lord.
Deuteragonist: Arguably the top contender for this role, even surpassing more significant characters to the story like Melina. He has more lines of dialogue than anyone else, consistently acts as your guide throughout, and is one of the few characters left actively pursuing the goal of restoring the Lands Between. Of course, given the open-world format of the game, it's entirely possible to never speak to him before his boss fight, but the average new player will likely spend a lot of time in his office.
Even Evil Has Standards:
- While Gideon has no problems manipulating people behind the scenes he draws the line at turning them into mind controlled slaves. Therefore it’s not a surprise that he’s morally repulsed by Seluvis's “hobby” of turning people into mind controlled puppets, possibly even using some of the puppets as sex slaves if the bed in his private chambers is any indicator. It doesn't help that Seluvis previously did this to one of Gideon's friends, thus he offers you the chance to foil Seluvis’s plot of turning Nepheli into his next victim if you inform Gideon about the potion that Seluvis gives you in his side quest.
- Implied if you share information with Gideon regarding the Haligtree about Mohg’s kidnapping of Miquella and removing him from being embed in the Haligtree. Gideon muses that "perhaps the Queen's sorrow was justified,” plus he’s aware that due to the Haligtree rotting away from the Scarlet Rot — due to Miquella’s disappearance — whatever plans he and Malenia had will no longer come to fruition.
- Gideon has beef with Mohg for turning the former’s fellow Tarnished into members of the Bloody Fingers, who then hunt down other Tarnished. While Gideon might not have problems getting rid of those who gets in his way, he despises an organization that hunts down his fellow Tarnished just for the sake of it.
Expy: To Odin from Norse Mythology. Gideon has motifs related to eyes and knowledge, plus is an expert at using magic and his surname is Ofnir, one of Odin's many names.
The Faceless: Despite his helmet having a large visor his face remains covered by shadows, giving him a sinister appearance. Downplayed during the intro where you do see part of his face and when using mods you can see his uncovered head.
Failure Is the Only Option: Implied to be why he experiences a Despair Event Horizon. He learns that Marika's intention is for the Tarnished to slay the Elden Beast, which he believes utterly impossible. Thus, he concludes that Marika must want the Tarnished to be trapped in a Forever War, endlessly striving in vain to defeat a god with no hope of every actually claiming the mantle of Elden Lord.
For Science!: His secondary motivation alongside becoming Elden Lord is to learn for learning's sake. A lot of his activities are based around figuring out the geography, cosmology, and politics of the Lands Between as well as other subjects because it's interesting to him.
Foil: Gideon is the ears and brains of the Roundtable Hold, gathering information and coming up with ideas, whereas the Tarnished (as well as Gideon’s followers) are handling most of the action. Gideon breaks at the idea of killing a god and thinks it’s impossible, thus concluding that Marika wants him to struggle with his fellow Tarnished forever, whereas the Tarnished's resolve stays the same and goes on to commit deicide.
Gambit Pileup: He makes many plans at once and they often spiral out of his control. Ensha trying to kill you against his wishes, or possibly him failing to kill you and secure half of the Haligtree medallion, and Nepheli killing other soldiers of his for an atrocity they committed stand out. However, he’s able to adapt his plans on the fly when things go wrong, which helps him net valuable information as well as gain access to exotic locations.
Gameplay and Story Integration: Sharing information with Gideon does net you valuable rewards, but you’re also helping him learn about the locations of exotic places as well as the individuals who shaped those lands. Naturally, he loots these places of valuable pieces as well, three of which he uses in his boss fight. Defeating Mohg and telling Gideon gives him access to Bloodboon, defeating Malenia gives him access to Scarlet Aeonia, and specifically not completing Sellen's questline gives him access to Comet Azur). Furthermore, once he crosses the Despair Event Horizon when he meets you in the ruined remains of Leyndell’s Royal Capital, he becomes more vulnerable to the Madness status affliction.
Go Mad from the Revelation: Sometime between you igniting the Erdtree and defeating Maliketh, Gideon manages to learn something about Marika's will that shudders him to the very core, something the description of his armor set calls "the end that should not be." Soon as you see him next, he attacks you to desperately keep you from becoming Elden Lord after the Erdtree burns and opens the way. Whatever he learned, it certainly wasn't pretty, and to further symbolize this he’s vulnerable to the Madness status infliction.
Hero of Another Story: Enia mentions that Gideon is one of the few Tarnished who has acquired a Great Rune, meaning he defeated a Shard Bearer in the past, though no information is given about them.
Jerkass: Rather unpleasant, and gives the newly arrived Tarnished a cold welcome to the Roundtable Hold, acting dismissive towards them afterward. He only starts treating the Tarnished better after they kill one of the demigods.
Jerkass Has a Point: As rude as he is when greeting the player he's not wrong when he expresses frustration towards the other Tarnished taking advantage of the Roundtable Hold's hospitality, doing so without contributing to their goal of establishing a new Elden Lord in order to restore order in the Lands Between. As leader of the Roundtable, he has every right to prioritize their mission. Over the course of the game several NPCs will in fact abandon the Hold to pursue their own agendas, proving his point.
Kick the Dog: He's the mastermind behind the destruction of the Village of the Albinaurics. It's also implied he hunted down Latenna and killed her wolf companion Lobo since he knows of her location. And while he feigns ignorance on the matter, it's ambiguous whether or not he ordered Ensha to assassinate The Tarnished player once they got their hands on half of the Haligtree medallion from the village.
Killed Off for Real: Being among the many required end-game bosses to finish the game, Gideon dies no matter what the player does.
The Leader: He leads the efforts of the Tarnished of the Roundtable Hold in pursuing their goal of repairing the Elden Ring and becoming Elden Lord.
Mr. Exposition: After The Tarnished obtains their first Great Rune, he'll allow them to join the inner circle of the Roundtable and give them a brief exposition on the other Shardbearers the player must hunt.
My Friends... and Zoidberg: A rare justified inversion, Gideon makes it clear from the get-go that he despises pretty much all the Tarnished that use the Roundtable Hold as their clubhouse, and initially he believes that the Player Tarnished will be the same. When said Tarnished comes back with a Great Rune and makes it clear that, no, they are not here to brood but to become Elden Lord, Gideon quickly becomes a close ally, if a shady and morally-ambiguous one. By the end of the game he even laments the fact that they have to fight and part of his despair is that he cannot see anyone defeating Marika and the Elden Beast, not even you.
Mystical White Hair: Underneath his helmet, he's got shoulder-length hair so purely, vividly white that it looks unnatural despite his advanced age, especially since he shows no signs of balding. It signifies his status as The Archmage amongst the returning Tarnished.
The Omniscient: He aspires to be “All-Knowing” like his title suggests, though he's open and humble about the fact that he likely will never be, yet he still aspires to know everything regardless — which is further symbolized by the scepter he walks around with representing a hand grasping a jewel.
Once per Episode: Sir Gideon Ofnir holds the dubious honor of being Elden Ring's entrant into the "From Software game fight against an old, sad, broken man punctuated by morose music" category.^note
Our Liches Are Different: He’s an undead like all other Tarnished revived by grace as well as a powerful Archmage to boot, but he shows no traditional undead themes and even removing his helmet using mods will reveal he’d pass as a living human.
The Pawns Go First: Gideon outright refers to some of his agents as pawns, so while he will get his hands dirty as Latenna witnessed he'd rather push other Tarnished and henchmen in the wild while he collects the info at the Roundtable.
Pet the Dog: If you see Nepheli's questline to its good ending with her becoming the new Lord of Limgrave he seems glad that she found her own way and developed herself into a greater person, even after he cast her out for disobeying him and fighting for the Albinaurics.
Power Copying: Many spells and incantations in his arsenal aren’t original creations of his, they’re instead the fruits of his searches whenever he travels as well as whatever his minions discover for him. He also gains spells based on two particular Shard Bearers you've defeated if you give him information about them once defeated in exchange for rewards; he will be interested in investigating the areas and therefore finds the secrets to those abilities. Defeating Mohg, for example, can give Gideon access to Bloodboon, and defeating Malenia can give him access to Scarlet Aeonia. He can also use Comet Azur if you don’t acquire it from Mt. Gelmir before Gideon’s own boss fight.
Red Mage: A master of sorceries and incantations. Notably, the spells he can use indicate that he must have at least 60 intelligence (Comet Azur), 42 faith (Black Flame Ritual), and 17 Arcane (Bloodboon).
The Resenter: He has grown to resent the other Tarnished who have given up on the quest to become Elden Lord and simply use the Roundtable Hold as a "shelter from the rain". Likewise he treats the player with little respect until they prove their commitment by defeating one of the demigods.
Riddle for the Ages: Gideon's final rant raises many questions that go unanswered: Why, after being so determined to become Elden Lord and being so unflappable even while having the Roundtable Hold burn around him, does he go mad at the last moment? What is the "glimpse" into Marika's will - or did he potentially see the Elden Beast, if his "No man can kill a god" quote is any indication? - that breaks him to the point that he fights you not out of competition of becoming Elden Lord, but to prevent ANYONE from becoming Elden Lord? What does he mean when he says Queen Marika wants the Tarnished to struggle 'unto eternity'? What is the 'end that should not be'? All valid questions, but none answered.
Secret A.I. Moves: The spells he can use in his boss fight indicate that he has 14 memory slots. The most the player can get is 10, 12 with the Moon of Nokstella talisman.
Signature Move: As the All-Knowing he has a vast array of spells and incantations, but he has one unique ability that makes them all more dangerous: Knowledge Above All, his weapon’s unique skill. It lowers both your magic and holy defense as well as his own by ten percent, making you vulnerable to all his attacks no matter what kind of defenses you prepare.
The Spymaster: He more or less 'leads' the Tarnished by acting like a spymaster, and he's implied to have agents all over the Lands Between which is why he knows much about the current state of affairs. You can even obtain a surcoat with his signature eye emblem from a body near Rykard when fighting him, indicating Gideon’s forces have infiltrated several organizations like the Recusants.
Squishy Wizard: Played with. He has high health for an NPC-type enemy and wears an ornamental set of plate armor to protect himself from both physical and non-physical damage far better than a traditional wizard robe would, but his weapon’s skill “Knowledge Above All” will lower his magic and holy defenses by ten percent (in exchange for lowering yours as well). He also commands a powerful arsenal of medium and long range sorceries as well as incantations, turning his fight into a race where your summoned allies and yourself try to stun-lock him into oblivion before he blasts you to bits, but even then he has the Law of Casualty incantation to punish those who chain attacks on him with reckless abandon. In his boss fight it's also easy to stagger him and chain damage due to him having nonexistent poise for a boss.
Unusual Ears: His armor set is covered with ears (and eyes) in unusual places, likely as symbolic to his status as 'All-Knowing'. Latenna calls him the "all-hearing brute".
Villainous Respect: Gideon starts acting more polite once you acquire a Great Rune by regarding you as his "fellow". It’s implied he’ll also act this way towards other Tarnished who do not abandon their goal to become Elden Lord and return order to the Lands Between.
Weak, but Skilled: When you fight him in Leyndell, he turns out to have low poise and health for an endgame enemy (though his HP is still insanely high compared to any other Tarnished, including you).^note He makes up for this, to some extent, with a wide array of powerful spells, including the special techniques of Malenia and Mohg (Scarlet Aeonia and Bloodboon respectively) if you informed him about them after their defeat as well as Comet Azur if you didn’t find it before fighting Gideon. He can also use Rykard’s Rancor regardless of whether or not you defeated him, showing that Gideon did his homework on the other demigods.
Weird Beard: His helmet has a beard made out of ear carvings
Well-Intentioned Extremist: More than perhaps anyone else at Roundtable Hold, Gideon wants to ensure the world is restored, to the point he resents all the Tarnished who have written off the Lands Between as a lost cause. His methods, however, leave a lot to be desired.
We Used to Be Friends: Friends might be an overstatement, but the description of the "Dolores the Sleeping Arrow Puppet" ashes mentions that Seluvis knew Gideon in the Roundtable Hold. It's implied Seluvis turning Dolores (who was close to Gideon) into a puppet is what caused Gideon to hate him.
Wham Line: The following line, spoken before he fights the Player Character, reveals what Queen Marika has in plan for the Tarnished, or at least what he believes is her will following the revelation about Marika above.
"I commend your spirit, but alas, none shall take the throne. Queen Marika has high hopes for us. That we continue to struggle. Unto eternity."
White Hair, Black Heart: While unseen in-game, Gideon has white hair beneath his helmet and he has quite the unpleasant and callous character.
Xanatos Speed Chess: While Gideon’s plans tend to become complicated and fall apart, he’s able to adapt them quickly in order to serve him better. A big example involves the events at the Village of the Albinaurics when his minions and right hand man Ensha fails to steal the first half of the Haligtree medallion. After you obtain the medallion, then kill Ensha for invading your world to steal your medallion half, Gideon realizes you’re a powerful Tarnished who can gain access to exotic locations and that it would be better for you to hold on to the medallion. He then offers you advice on how to find the other half, and once you find the Haligtree he admits he’s happy to see his counsel bore fruit as both of you now have access to the Haligtree (since his subordinates were tracking your location).
You Have Failed Me: He casts out Nepheli for "indulging her emotions" and "offing his pawns" after the massacre at the Village of the Albinaurics.

Smithing Master Hewg

Voiced by: James Doherty

"Despite my differences, the weapons get stronger, all the same. Given time, technique never fails."

Hewg's misshapen form graces the right hallway of the Roundtable Hold. He's considered a prisoner here, but he holds no ill-will to the Tarnished who grace the Hold, and will happily help you upgrade your gear.

Ambiguous Situation: Just how much of a hold Marika has over his actions; Hewg was apparently tasked with forging a god-slaying weapon by her, and he commits to his task with resigned duty, but when the Roundtable Hold starts to burn down after lighting the Erdtree ablaze, he starts to lose his memories and becomes so devoted to his task that he's willing to burn with the Hold just to complete it. Did Marika purposefully wipe his mind so that he wouldn't try to escape with his life and the Tarnished could get the god-slaying weapon from him, or did his being "bound to the Hold" mean that his mind started to degrade with it and he only held onto his mission as a way of staving off the Death of Personality?
Beauty Equals Goodness: He's the only intelligent and friendly Misbegotten in the whole game, and compared to the standards of his species, he's actually rather handsome — lacking the wild, matted hair and grotesquely oversized Muppetlike mouths of the rest of his kin, and his shaggy white beard gives him a certain grizzled dignity, appropriate for a blacksmith of his talents.
Be Careful What You Wish For: He initially claims to smith so that he can forget the terror of 'her', who is later revealed to be Queen Marika. After the Erdtree is set on fire, he slowly but surely does forget about almost everything in his life, including his relationship with the Tarnished and Roderika, only continuing to smith mindlessly as the Hold burns around him.
The Blacksmith: He serves the Tarnished of the Roundtable Hold as their blacksmith. And he's a damn good one, too, if Queen Marika entrusted him to forge a god-slaying weapon.
Catchphrase: "Lay out your arms, then."
Death of Personality: After the Erdtree, and therefore the Roundtable Hold, has fully been set ablaze, Hewg, who is bound to the Hold, forgets about his past life and acquaintances, knowing only of his purpose as a smith (and he even briefly forgets about that before noticing the anvil in front of him and making an assumption based on that).
Foreshadowing: He can be seen praying to Marika for the strength to make something that can kill a god very early, as early as right after you kill Godrick.
Gonk: As a Misbegotten, he's definitely not easy on the eyes.
Happiness in Slavery: Maybe not happiness, but it's clear Master Hewg isn't bothered by his position in life. Besides, it means if you're interacting with him, then she won't be. Even after igniting the Erdtree, and by proxy the Roundtable Hold, Hewg stays at his post, dedicated to creating a weapon that will kill a god even as Roderika tries to get you to convince him to leave since she can't do so herself. However, it is also strongly implied that this is a result of Queen Marika's conditioning of him, especially as the Roundtable Hold is burning and falling apart, likely to eventually result in his death.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a bit crass and claims that he doesn't care about anyone in the Hold, but he still offers the Tarnished his services while making clear that he has no issue with them despite being enslaved. When Roderika shows up, he teaches her spirit tuning with no expectation of award, claiming that it's to honor someone he once knew, and eventually becomes a Parental Substitute to her. With his mind and body failing as the Erdtree burns, he desperately rallies his faculties enough so he can proudly call the Tarnished "Lord" just once before his mind fully deteriorates. Even though the Tarnished isn't a Lord yet, Hewg is confident that they will succeed, but knows his mind will be completely gone before that happens.
Palette Swap: His model is completely identical to that of the Scaly Misbegotten enemies, except he's bald and has a beard.
Parental Substitute: He reluctantly becomes a mentor and father figure to Roderika, which he will constantly complain about to the Tarnished.
Recurring Element: Much like Blacksmith Boldwin and Andre of Astora^note, Hewg is this game's gruff blacksmith who lives in the Player Headquarters and upgrades equipment for the player.
Token Heroic Orc: The only Misbegotten who doesn’t try to kill the Tarnished on sight.
Uncertain Doom: When the Roundtable Hold begins collapsing, Hewg refuses to leave, as he realizes the player character genuinely stands a chance at killing a god. Thus, he spends the rest of his short, remaining life in desperate attempts to forge a godslaying weapon for the person he views as his lord… you. When the game ends, we don't see what happens to him.

Fia, the Deathbed Companion

Voiced by: Chiara Goldsmith

"Great champion, would you allow me to hold you, but briefly?"

A black-clad woman who lives at the Roundtable Hold. She makes her residence in a bedroom not too far from Master Hewg, sat next to a lavish fire. She is a demure, endlessly kind woman who will give you a blessing… but only if you hug her for a few minutes. Of course, she may whisper some sweet nothings into your ear, but that's just part of the gig… right?

Anti-Villain: She might be hostile towards the player Tarnished after she reveals her true loyalties, but she genuinely cares for Those Who Live In Death, seeing them as victims being persecuted by the Golden Order and the followers of the Two Fingers. After being defeated, a player Tarnished can convince her they're on her side.
Arch-Enemy: Seems to consider the Roundtable Hold and the Golden Order as hers, due to their persecution against Those Who Live In Death. In particular, D, who seems to have stolen Godwyn's hallowbrand and whom she personally kills to retrieve it. Her signature spell even mentions how it was only made specifically to kill the Tarnished of the Roundtable Hold. Even a player Tarnished who wants to side with her still has to beat her boss fight, as she's naturally hostile to them after she reveals her true colors.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She pretends to be an ally to the Roundtable Hold, but her true loyalties lie with Those Who Live In Death, and she's seemingly only there so she can find the owner of the weathered dagger (it's implied that the owner of the dagger stole the hallowbrand from Godwyn's corpse, making the dagger her only clue to tracking them and the hallowbrand down). After she shows her true colors, she shows disdain for those who follow the Golden Order or the Two Fingers. Although she's immediately hostile to a player Tarnished who finds her in Deeproot Depths, she does begin to treat them nicely again if they sympathize with her cause and Those Who Live In Death.
Black Cloak: She's clad in a black robe and hood, which is fitting due to her connection to Death.
Cast from Hit Points: Yours, not hers. Having her blessing reduces your maximum health until it is used.
Creepy Good: Considering her line of work and strong association with death, she could come across as a bit creepy and morbid at times. However, she's ultimately a benevolent figure who is compassionate towards the dead and willing to sacrifice herself so prosecution against them will end.
Death by Childbirth: After receiving both halves of the cursemark of Death, Fia will take them into herself to gestate them, to give birth to a new Rune she calls her child. After defeating Fortissax in the Deathbed Dream, the Tarnished can then obtain the Rune from what appears to be her corpse — the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince.
Depraved Bisexual: Subverted; the Faith of the Two Fingers would like to paint her as one; her status as a Deathbed Companion has her "lay" with many champions freely, which is considered the height of corruption and impurity. In reality, what 'laying' involves is rather obscure (and in the case of the player, is no more than a comforting hug), and Fia is a very kind and caring individual, who just happens to have some really creepy (but ultimately benevolent) beliefs, and is persecuted for it.
Desecrating the Dead: After giving birth to the Mending Rune of Death Prince, Fia appears to be dead from the process as you can't talk to her, and if you rest at the grace or reload the area, you can then take her outfit and equipment. If you give D's armor to his twin brother, then he will show up to avenge D's death. If Fia wasn't dead before, she definitely is after he gets through with her.
Enemy Summoner: Her boss fight involves her summoning Champions to fight the player. This includes NPC Tarnished, as well as Rogier and Lionel the Lionhearted.
The Exile: She mentions having been chased away from her birthplace.
G-Rated Sex: All she does in-game is hug you, but the opening cutscene and some of her dialogue heavily imply that when she talks about "laying with" somebody, she means it in the Biblical sense.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: While it's quite vague; she implies that she's "received" from several champions their lifely vigor and "warmth", but she's only ever done this with the best of intentions.
Heroic Sacrifice: She knows full well that she will die after giving birth to the completed Rune, but she is nothing but proud at fulfilling her duty and states how happy she is she was born a Deathbed Companion.
In the Hood: Fitting her mysterious and enigmatic character, she wears a black hood that conceals most of her face.
I Love the Dead: As a Deathbed Companion, she tells The Tarnished that she was "laying" with a dead noble just before she awakened to grace. The opening cutscene actually shows the moment, and the fact she seems to be wearing only a Modesty Bedsheet implies she wasn't merely sleeping beside him.
Kick the Dog: Her murder of D is abrupt and cruel, especially since you later meet D's twin who has been reduced to a sobbing wreck by his brother's death.
Magical Barefooter: She's a spellcaster and her outfit has no footwear.
Reincarnation: She implies this is what she's collecting all this "warmth" for, and is a staple of the Deathbed Companion's duties: she collects enough of it from those willing to lay with her, and then will lay with recently dead nobles of great influence, and then transfer said warmth to the corpse, allowing the body and soul of the person she is assigned to become whole and new again. The person she's working so hard to bring back to life during the game is none other than Godwyn himself.
Signature Move: The reward for 'defeating' her is the signature spell named after her: Fia's Mist, which creates a cloud of black smoke that inflicts Death, similarly to the basilisk's Breath Attack. This notably only works against other Tarnished NPC and players.
Stronger Than They Look: At least in the manga; her version of "holding" Aseo involves giving him a full-body chiropractic procedure which involves at one point cracking his back over her shoulders by fireman carrying him, and she has enough hand strength to give amazing shiatsu massages. In-game, for a woman as seemingly frail as she is, she did manage to navigate all the way to the Deeproot Depths essentially by herself, as there is no indication other than her fading away after killing D that she is projecting a phantom into the Roundtable Hold like the Dung Eater does.
Squishy Wizard: While she can summon Champions to fight on her behalf, she's defenseless once they're defeated and doesn't fight back against a player who intends to kill her.
Undying Loyalty:
- She seems utterly devoted to Godwyn, the Prince of Death and keeps his corpse company in the Deeproot Depths, awaiting his "return". She seemingly only left with because someone in the Roundtable Hold stole his corpse's hallowbrand.
- Recurring minor character Lionel the Lionhearted (the fat knight who joins in the Festival of Radahn) has devoted his life to her and acted as her father figure. It is strongly implied that Fia either absorbed his life force or else tried unsuccessfully to revive him after something else befell him. The player finds out their connection by taking Lionel's armor off a corpse in a companion house in Leyndell, with a deathbed dress lying on the bed next to it.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: She's definitely rough around the edges, given how her actions lead to the death of D, who was nothing if not courteous to the player, but she has a good point about how Those Who Live In Death are persecuted; like most beings in the Lands Between, it's made clear that any hostility from them comes from the madness afflicting everyone. While it's arguable that her potential death at the hands of D's brother is deserved, it could be said that the vitriolic zealotry he spouts after the deed only serves to justify Fia's opinions of the current Golden Order and Roundtable Hold. In the end, much like with Ranni, it's up to the player to decide how justified her actions are and if they merit an attempt to integrate Destined Death and Those Who Live in Death into the natural order of the Lands Between.
Zombie Advocate: Is sympathetic to Those Who Live In Death to the point of declaring herself one of them, and seeks to create a new Order where they are no longer persecuted just for existing.

Diallos Hoslow

Voiced by: Peter Caulfield

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6c96888a_o.png

"The tale of House Hoslow is told in blood."

A tarnished knight from the noble House Hoslow.

Badass Creed: "The tale of House Hoslow is told in blood." Downplayed; Diallos is a rather underwhelming person when saying this, being unwilling to shed blood at all. Though it turns out the creed isn’t about shedding other people’s blood, it’s the members of House Hoslow shedding their blood for a noble cause. Which Diallos at the end of his questline lives up to by giving his life defending the Living Jars of Jarburg.
Becoming the Mask: Zig-zagged during the Volcano Manor questline. He originally goes to the manor to find Lanya's murderer, but develops into a loyal recusant after some ego-stroking, believing he has found a cause worthy of “telling in blood” for: becoming a champion. Except it’s unknown if he really did murder anyone from the assassination requests, is suffering from self-doubt, and finally decides that what he’s doing is wrong plus has shamed his family. This ends with him shedding the mask entirely, leaving the Volcano Manor in search of redemption for his actions.
Bling of War: His armor^*The Hoslow Set is well-polished steel and intricately decorated with embroidery (on the cloth parts), engraved patterns, and inlaid with red gemstones.
Blue Blood: He's from a noble house called Hoslow, although he's aware that being from a noble house doesn't mean very much in his current circumstances as a Tarnished, and he stops from introducing himself by his full name when first met.
Butt-Monkey: He suffers all sorts of misfortune throughout his questline.
Classical Anti-Hero: Diallos is riddled with self-doubt, described as “all talk and no trousers,” and makes all sorts of rather questionable decisions to become a champion, often failing in his attempts which results in being forced to run and hide. He is even described by his own family as “the shame of House Hoslow” and it shows. In the end, he finally pursues a goal worthy of House Hoslow: shedding his blood and ultimately his life in defense of the Living Jars of Jarburg.
Dramatically Missing the Point: During the Volcano Manor questline, his desperate search for a way to become a champion of some kind is implied to be because his older brother Juno was made head of the family as a shoe-in, making Diallos feel useless and unwanted, yet still wanting to become someone great and stand alongside his brother Juno. As it turns out, Juno wanted to use his position to support his little brother any way he could and for them to work together, but instead Diallos left for the Lands Between and ended up at Volcano Manor, whom Juno can potentially end up assassinated by should you accept the manor’s request.
Dying Moment of Awesome: He makes a heroic Last Stand to protect the Jars of Jarburg, saving the lives of many, including Jar-Bairn, and finally finds the redemption he was searching for, at the cost of his own life.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Diallos means well, but he is rather naive while his brother Juno takes matters seriously as well as having the skill and strength to back up his authority.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Diallos makes a lot of questionable choices on his way to try becoming a champion, all the while harboring self-doubt and guilt about his choices that go horribly wrong. He goes from a well meaning person looking for greatness to an assassin serving a ruthless organization headed by a monstrosity to a man searching for redemption. And he finds it, becoming a Face once more at the cost of his life.
Interclass Friendship: His quest starts with him inquiring about the whereabouts of a girl named Lanya, a servant to House Hoslow that he's fairly close to, despite their difference in social status. He's crushed when he finds her dead in Liurnia, and swears to avenge her.
Let's Get Dangerous!: If you attack him, he sheds his self-loathing and retaliates with all his might. And while he’s not quite his brother, that whip he uses can inflict the Bleed status quickly if you’re not careful.
Miles Gloriosus: He puffs himself up as being a great warrior from a noble house when you meet him again after his first appearance in the Roundtable Hold, but it's nothing more than grand posturing; his behavior throughout the Volcano Manor storyline is proof enough. Jar Bairn, the young Living Jar that speaks to you to Jarburg, lampshades this when he states he loves the feel of Diallos’s hands, for they are soft and smooth. Compared to when Jar Bairn noticed your hands were too rough, likely due to your warrior status as a Tarnished who had shed blood countless times in the past, it shows that Diallos is more of a pampered noble.
My God, What Have I Done?: When he realizes that he was easily duped into joining the Recusants Volcano Manor — despite them murdering his servant Lanya — plus he may have murdered people in a vain attempt to become a champion, he doesn’t take it well.
A Real Man Is a Killer: He admits to you he always hated how small and fine his hands are, hoping to get some blood on them to live up to the motto of House Hoslow. Except he’s wrong about what the creed stands for. It’s not shedding other people’s blood that matters, it’s what he’s willing to shed his own blood and possibly die for. And he comes to realize this at the end of his questline when he sacrifices his life to protect the innocent.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: At the end of his quest line, while he lies dying of his wounds from defending Jarburg, you can tell him he failed to save the Living Jars; Diallos will lament that he's been a fool to the very end.
Weak-Willed: During the Volcano Manor quest line, he forgets all about justice and avenging his servant when the Recusants give him the chance to "become a champion" and butters him up by saying he has the makings of one. However, he does eventually recognize that he's betrayed everything he originally stood for and leaves the Manor.

Brother Corhyn

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13224dec_o.png

Voiced by: Samuel Barnett

"May the Golden Order shine through you."

A kind Tarnished Prophet who will sell you useful incantations. He will eventually leave the Roundtable in order to find the Ever-Brilliant Goldmask.

Blindfolded Vision: The blindfold he wears doesn't seem to affect his eyesight much, since he often references things he is looking at and uses the term "before our eyes" on at least one occasion. His job as Goldmask's scribe is to translate and write down the nigh-imperceptible body language and finger movements of a man who never speaks, a job that would obviously require him to not only see, but pay extremely close attention.
Crisis of Faith: He becomes increasingly anguished at Goldmask's Nay-Theist philosophy. In the end, he's unable to sympathize with Goldmask's point of view, and dismisses him as a heretical madman.
Despair Event Horizon: The combination of his idol Goldmask becoming a Nay-Theist and the burning of the Erdtree absolutely break Corhyn. He can be found in the destroyed Leyndell on his knees, feebly laughing about how everything has gone wrong. He also won't sell you Incantations anymore. After reloading the area, you find his robe and Bell Bearing in the same spot you last saw him, implying he was Driven to Suicide.
The Exile: The description of his robes say that he was exiled from his homeland for refusing to recant his prophecies, after which he was granted the guidance of grace.
The Fundamentalist: Proves to be the negative sort, in contrast to Goldmask. He's unable to waver from the central tenets of the Golden Order, even though the Order's lost its way in the wake of the Shattering.
- He is also a Fundamentalist in the context of the setting (i.e., a practitioner of Golden Order Fundamentalism). If you give him the Golden Order Principia, he will be pleased at your enthusiasm for learning Fundamentalism. In contrast, he will call any other incantation book a work of heresy, even those belonging to faiths tolerated by the Golden Order such as the Dragon Cult or the Two Fingers.
Irony: His robes grant the highest amount of Focus (which governs your resistance to Madness) out of any single piece of armor in the game. It still wasn't enough to keep him from crossing the Despair Event Horizon at the end of his and Goldmask's questline.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: When he starts to doubt the veracity of Goldmask's theologizing in the Mountaintops of the Giants, the player can offer him the Tonic of Forgetfulness from Rya's quest to help erase his distressing memories of doubt. He refuses, but if it's offered, rather than go to the destroyed Leyndell after the burning of the Erdtree, dismissing Goldmask as a heretical lunatic, he'll instead remain right where he was in the Mountaintops, calling out for Goldmask, having apparently forgotten his original distress and instead wondering why he's alone.
Tome of Eldritch Lore: A bit of a Running Gag, but he will complain about every prayerbook you give him, disparaging their contents as heretical and saying he'll "take them off your hands" in a tone that sounds like he plans on burning them later. He even complains about the Two Fingers Prayerbook, even though the Two Fingers are themselves servants of the Golden Order and he happily offers to teach you Two Fingers incantations when you first meet him. This doesn't stop him from teaching you these heretical incantations, though. The only book he won't complain about is the Golden Order Principia itself.

Ensha of the Royal Remains

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ensha_elden_ring.png

A quiet and mysterious Tarnished who's always guarding the study of Gideon Ofnir.

Ambiguous Situation: Given that he only attacks you after you acquire half of the Haligtree Medallion, which Gideon has his men slaughter a village to get his hands on, it calls into question whether attacking you was his idea... or Gideon's.
Bad with the Bone: His weapon is the Clinging Bone, a skeletal arm with a sharpened end that still clutches anything that takes its hand.
Dead Person Impersonation: His armor's description mentions the bones are rumored to be from a soulless king known as Ensha. Whether he is somehow wearing his own bones, stole the remains to impersonate the king, or Gideon simply nicknamed him Ensha because he wouldn't speak even to give his name is never explained.
The Dragon: To Gideon Ofnir, whom he serves as a bodyguard and occasional hitman.
Expy: Of the Darkwraiths, being an invader in skeleton-themed black armor. He even uses a Fist weapon with a Life Drain weapon art, just like the Dark Hand the Darkwraiths use.
Face–Heel Turn: He'll try to kill you for seemingly no reason the next time you visit Roundtable Hold, once you retrieve half of the Haligtree Secret Medallion.
Flat Character: He's quiet and... that's all there is to him, unlike any other character in the Round Table Hold.
Obviously Evil: Turns out the guy dressed head to toe in black metal and human bones isn't very nice. Who could have seen that coming?
The Quiet One: He never says anything and the player has no Talk prompt when near him. It's unknown if he's incapable of speech, or just refuses to.
Rebel Relaxation: His default pose is to lean against the wall next to Gideon's room. The player can even learn how to do the same pose via a gesture if they interact with him.
Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His armor set has human bones integrated into the metal. Where it gets weird is that the description says they're apparently his bones.
Undeathly Pallor: Under that armor, he's unnaturally pale. Maybe because he never takes it off.

Roderika, Spirit Tuner

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roderika.png

Voiced by: Helen Monks

"Everyone who came with me. They crossed the sea for me. They fought, for me."

A poor girl caught in the Shattering. Roderika is found in the Stormveil Shack just down the hill from Stormveil Castle. She appears later in the Roundtable Hold, where Master Hewg recognizes she happens to be gifted in the art of Spirit Tuning. Getting her to recognize this will allow her to upgrade your Spirit Ashes.

Action Survivor: A noteworthy example, because she is explicitly not a Tarnished. She's a normal human woman who was casted from her home, with little skill or powers to her name. Despite this, she goes on to become a major ally of the Tarnished, and helps improve their Spirit Ashes, leading to the Tarnished changing the Lands Between.
Breaking Old Trends: Though not readily apparent, Roderika is the Elden Ring equivalent of the Cresfallen Warrior archetype, even initially introduced as the Heartbroken Maiden. That said, she differs by not being a warrior, and being a bit more involved with the Player Character by acting as their Spirit Tuner.
Child Prodigy: Roderika is, at most, in hear early twenties, but quickly proves to have such natural talent for Spirit Tuning that she masters the craft almost overnight.
Cloudcuckoolander: A tragic, trauma-induced example. When taking refuge in the Stormhill Shack, Roderika dreamily muses about how her soldiers became "little chrysalids" after Godrick grafted their bodies, and — as you're going to the castle anyway — asks you to send them her love and let them know she'll be joining them soon. But there are no cocoons in Stormveil, only body bags, inside one of which is a "chrysalid memento". While it's never clarified whether Roderika didn't grasp what had happened or was running on pure wishful thinking, she is not in touch with reality prior to her stay in the Roundtable Hold.
Combat Pragmatist: She doesn't fight at all, but in the manga she takes some cues from what she calls Aseo's "fighting dirty" tactics and devices a plan to defeat Bernahl by faking one skill while actually performing another.
The Cutie: Roderika is a cute young lady who is nothing but sweet and helpful to the Tarnished.
Death Seeker: Initially. She was part of a group of pilgrims who were going to Stormveil to willingly give themselves up to have their limbs harvested for grafting. When you first meet her, she still wants to go, but is too scared. Her Crimson Hood implying she isn't a Tarnished suggests this was done after realizing she had nowhere else to go once she was exiled from her home.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Downplayed, as she does encounter tragedy before the final act, but she is one of the few Soulsborne characters to end the game in a much better place than she started, having finally found her calling and the will to live again. Sadly, her newly adoptive father Hewg seems to enter a strange loop of reasoning as the Roundtable Hold begins to burn down, and seems to lose all of his affection for Roderika, even when she tries to get you to convince him to leave. Ultimately, she finds the strength to let her adoptive father go, and continue on living, rather than return to her Death Seeker mentality. However, if you choose the Frenzied Flame or Blessing of Despair endings, this is completely Averted.
The Exile: Roderika wears a variant Noble's Set (red instead of blue hood), and the Noble's Set description notes that it is the garb of expatriate royalty sent off to the Lands Between when they saw the guidance of Grace. Roderika's hood in particular notes that she is not Tarnished and has never seen Grace, but she fell victim to nobles scheming to get rid of undesirables by claiming that they were Tarnished and needed to go to the Lands Between.
Expy: Of Farnese de Vandimion. Like Farnese, she's a young blonde noblewoman whose family sent her away on a mission to assist a "holy" leader, only for her to lose faith and fall into despair once she witnesses his brutality, after which she finds a new purpose by learning magic as an apprentice to assist the protagonist.
Gameplay Ally Immortality: Should you be so evil as to attack the poor girl in her shack, you will find you can't harm her as she has set up a barrier. This is to ensure she ends up going to the Roundtable Hold and provide upgrades for Spirit Ashes.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Between some implied prior trauma and the general bleakness of the setting, Roderika is so emotionally broken that, during her first appearance at the Stormhill Shack, she dismisses her reluctance to have Godrick cut her up and add her limbs to his body as cowardice, sadly musing that she's just not "strong enough" to overcome her aversion to pain. This, in spite of eventually discovering that she's one of the greatest Spirit Tuners of the age, able to master the art in mere days (despite Hewg implying that he only as a basic knowledge and that the art would typically require years of effort).
Last Request: Her last piece of unique dialogue as she resigns herself to staying with Hewg to the end is this. Roderika begs you to take the god slaying weapon Hewg forges for you to kill Marika, whom Roderika blames for cursing them all.
Nice Girl: She's shown to be a friendly and sweet-hearted young girl who looks out for the Tarnished's well-being.
Rage Against the Heavens: Seeing what Marika's enslavement of Hewg has done to him as the Roundtable Hold burns leads Roderika to hate Marika and to want her dead. Her last request to you is to slay Marika with the weapon forged by Hewg.
Riches to Rags: Roderika was once a part of high society, but was exiled to the Lands Between with only the clothes on her back, under the excuse that she was Tarnished. Roderika would eventually regain her footing by taking on the seemingly more humble occupation of Spirit Tuner. If the part that she was royalty is accurate, then her fall would be even greater than if she were of noble birth.
Sole Survivor: She was the only member of her initial group not to be captured, killed and grafted by Godrick and his minions. Assuming she survives the Uncertain Doom listed below she can also be the last resident of the Roundtable Hold still standing at the end of the game if Nepheli Loux and Fia don't make it.
The Unfavorite: The item description for the Crimson Hood she wears mentions it being worn by "expatriate" royals, alongside being put on those being sent out for long journeys with no real aim so as to be rid of someone. Combined with the statement on it about her never having seen Grace, the implication is that Roderika was disliked for unknown reasons by her home, and sent away with the excuse of being a Tarnished, when in truth she isn't.
Uncertain Doom: Having grown attached to Hewg, she too refuses to leave the Roundtable Hold when it collapses. She tries to convince him to leave, but he refuses, and eventually begins mentally collapsing on the strain. She decides to remain by his side, and it is unknown if they both live or die after you defeat Radagon and the Elden Beast.

D, Hunter of the Dead

Voiced by: Huw Parmenter

A hunter of Those Who Live in Death. D is either initially found within Roundtable Hold or near Summonwater Village, warning the Tarnished of the existence of Those Who Live in Death and to avoid them.

Assist Character: Can be called upon as a summon for the Black Knife Assassin fight in Black Knife Catacombs and the Tibia Mariner fight in East Liurnia.
Because You Were Nice to Me: According to his weapon description, he and his twin brother joined the Golden Order and later became fanatically loyal because the Order treated them with kindness as human beings instead of outcast pariahs.
Bling of War: He's clad in an elaborate set of gold-and-silver plate armor named the Twinned Set, and wields the equally elaborate Inseparable Sword.
Character Tics: He always has one hand holding the silver head of his armor, as if to cover its eyes.
Church Militant: He's a warrior who fights for the sake of the Golden Order, and is appropriately geared in armor.
The Fundamentalist: He's extremely rigid in his belief that Those Who Live in Death should be exterminated without mercy. When his old friend Rogier began to sympathize with them, D promptly cut ties with him (although given that Rogier mentions D telling him about finding a centipede mark in Summonwater Village, it seems they at least still speak to each other on occasion).
Given Name Reveal: You only learn his name, Darian, via the very end of his twin brother's questline... or reading the manga, which has Rogier reveal it to Aseo when reminiscing about their time researching Those Who Live In Death; apparently, they used to call themselves D&R, Explorers of Death.
Hunter of Monsters: Hunts undead of all shapes and sizes.
Killed Off for Real: Fia kills him no matter what, the only question is when. If you follow Fia's questline, he is killed after you give him the Weathered Dagger. If you don't, she kills him on the way of the Hold after Melina sets fire to the Erdtree.
Knight Templar: He's zealously opposed to Those Who Live in Death, and fights to exterminate them at every turn. This led to his falling-out with Rogier and earns him the hatred of Fia, who murders him with the Tarnished's unwitting assistance.
Mysterious Past: Item descriptions note that D and his twin brother were treated as accursed beings and outcasts, but do not mention why. The specifics of his past with Rogier are also not fully elaborated on.
One-Letter Name: Only known as "D". His twin brother reveals his actual name is Darian.
Shout-Out: His name and profession are both a shout-out to Vampire Hunter D. You eventually find out he also has a twin brother.
Sorry That I'm Dying: His last words if killed by the player early on are him calling out to his brother, asking that he forgive him.
Twin Telepathy: According to D's armor set, he and his brother, despite having different bodies and being different people, share one soul. What makes this especially horrific is that when you encounter D's brother, you find him a sobbing wreck, despite it being unlikely that he heard about D's death from an outside source. This implies that D's brother could physically feel the death of his brother, and is now in unimaginable soul-pain.
Twin Theme Naming: The alliterative sort (Darian and Devin). This is reflected by them both being known as "D", albeit with slightly different titles.
Van Helsing Hate Crime: He has no mercy for Those Who Live in Death as his order seeks their destruction. Rogier's beginning to sympathize with the undead and his subsequent disapproval drove a wedge between them, and Fia murders him for stealing the hallowbrand of Godwyn during a raid on the undead.
We Used to Be Friends: He and Rogier used to be friends and worked together while researching Death and Those Who Live In Death, but Rogier's being sympathetic for Those Who Live In Death is frowned upon by D, and their relationship is now greatly soured.

Nepheli Loux, Warrior

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tzpe3fzmij98fzpph4h3vn_1200_80.jpg

Voiced by: Cara Theobold

"Be proud. You were a fine warrior. Your only mistake was your choice of master."

A barbarian warrior and Gideon Ofnir's adopted daughter, who can be found exploring the field.

Action Girl: Nepheli is a skilled warrior who can potentially help the Tarnished against Godrick the Grafted, the Omenkiller, and Godfrey the First Elden Lord should you help her become lord of Limgrave. She's a useful asset in all three fights, which is particularly impressive considering that Godrick and Godfrey are, respectively, amongst the first and last bosses you'll face in a very long game.
Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's a brunette under her headband and has an aloof and serious personality.
Amazonian Beauty: As one might expect from a classic Barbarian Heroine, she's a beautiful woman whose skimpy outfit shows off her broad, powerful figure. Unfortunately for her, one of the Lands Between's most hideous sexual predators has taken notice.
Ambiguously Brown: She has a brownish skin tone that's darker than the complexion of the vast majority of people living in the Lands Between, albeit with clearly Caucasian facial features. Her first name implies she's from whatever this world's equivalent of Greece is, but Loux is a Germanic name and the only other representative of the clan (Hoarah Loux) is pale-skinned.
Ambiguously Related: Shares her last name with Hoarah Loux, another barbarian Tarnished, but there are no mentions of her biological family, save the vague idea that she may have lost them at a young age if her past is to be believed. Considering that Hoarah is also Godfrey the First Elden Lord, and the Stormhawk King recognizes her as a rightful heir to the Golden Lineage throne in Stormveil, she is clearly somehow related by blood to him. The specifics of this relation, however, are not mentioned.
Assist Character: She can be called upon as a summon for the Godrick The Grafted fight in Stormveil, for the Omenkiller fight in the Village of the Albinaurics, and for the fight against Godfrey the First Elden Lord in Lyndell, Capital of Ash should you complete her personal quest line with a positive outcome.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: She's a highly-competent warrior and possibly related to Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. Thus it comes as no small surprise that Kenneth names her the new lord of Limgrave.
Barbarian Heroine: A Tarnished barbarian who came to the Lands Between to become an Elden Lord, although she has already stopped being guided by grace, she's still willing to help out in whatever way she can, often sent to dangerous locations at Gideon's behest.
Barbarian Longhair: She's a Barbarian Heroine, and when her headgear is removed with the model viewer she has long, black hair.
Being Good Sucks: She's one of the most unambiguously good and empathetic characters in the entire setting, and it's that selfsame goodness and empathy that gets her cast out by her Machiavellian foster father for getting in his way. However, those selfsame qualities combined with being recognized by the Stormhawk King (and the two things may very well be connected) lets her be chosen as the new rightful ruler of Limgrave, meaning that, if the quest is followed to its proper end, she's one of the (very few) characters that end the game better than they started.
Broken Pedestal: Her faith in Gideon is broken after she finds out he's behind the massacre of the Village of the Albinaurics.
Nepheli: I... can no longer trust in father... To think he'd order his men to enact such tragedy... Where is the justice he purports, in that? He once told me that if he became Elden Lord, he would never allow the downtrodden to be cheated ever again. Was he simply lying to me?
Dark and Troubled Past: When you met her in the Village of the Albinaurics, she mentions she's familiar with the sight of the slaughter and pillaging from her childhood. But now that she's a grown woman, she's relieved that she can mete out justice on her own.
Dual Wielding: She wields two Stormhawk Axes.
Earn Your Happy Ending: If you don't give her Seluvis' potion and instead give her the Stormhawk King, Kenneth will name her the new Lord of Limgrave and she'll take up residence in Stormveil Castle's throne room.
Elemental Weapon: She can use the Stormhawk Axe Ash of War skill 'Thunderstorm' to imbue her weapon with lightning for a period of time.
Fatal Flaw: Her trusting nature. She trusts Gideon wholeheartedly and is utterly shocked that he ordered the massacre of the Albinaurics, and if you give her Seluvis' potion, she takes it without question, dooming herself to a Fate Worse than Death as his puppet.
Fate Worse than Death: If you give her Seluvis' potion, she is captured by him and turned into a puppet for his collection. Judging by how not even the Dung Eater can stand this state, it's likely her despair is even greater than his, especially since it's heavily implied that both Seluvis and Pidia (or possibly just Pidia, since it's implied Seluvis is just another puppet who Pidia acts through) use her puppet as a Sex Slave.
Foil: To Godrick. Both have some kind of connection to the same legendary hero, are proud of their heritage, consider themselves great warriors, favor axes and storm magic, and served as the Lord of Limgrave, but the similarities end there. Godrick is a petty tyrant, looks down on his opponents, is a Fantastic Racist who regards his subjects as beneath him, and is a weakling who had to steal power from others (both his Great Rune and his grafted body parts) to become a threat. Meanwhile, Nepheli is a noble-hearted hero, regards most of her enemies as worthy adversaries, is compassionate to the downtrodden (even the Albinaurics and Demi-Humans), and fights solely with her own strength. Physically, Godrick is a withered, sickly, pale old man adorned in royal robes and a crown, while Nepheli is a young, fit, olive-skinned woman dressed in barbarian garb. Even their names serve to heighten the contrast — Godrick carries the patronym of Godfrey in his capacity as the First Elden Lord, while Nepheli carries the surname he possessed when he was merely a man, as the warrior-chieftain Hoarah Loux.
Fur Bikini: The Champion Pauldron chest piece she wears is a fur top with a pelt skirt.
Heroic BSoD: After her role in assisting the Tarnished in the Village of the Albinaurics, she can be found by the Tarnished despairing at the bottom of the Roundtable Hold, as she's cast aside by Gideon for interfering with his plans for the Haligtree Medallion and she became consumed by despair at both his rejection and the revelation that he was the one behind the village's massacre.
Heroic Lineage: She ultimately lives up to the legacy of her relative Hoarah Loux, rather than her adoptive father.
Hidden Depths: In the manga, she expresses a surprising dedication to artistic integrity, telling Aseo that using the dragon corpse as part of his grafting (which in the manga is treated as an artistic medium similar to sculpture) would be a cheap attempt at style over substance if he doesn't do anything meaningful with it.
Irony: She's introduced admonishing a dead Worthy Opponent for his service to a foul master like Godrick. Her quest mostly deals with her realizing that her own master and father figure Gideon, is also quite morally repugnant.
Klingon Promotion: If her quest is fully completed, she'll end up taking over Godrick's fief of Limgrave after helping to kill him.
Noble Savage: Despite her "savage" origins, she greatly empathizes with the suffering of the innocent people of the Lands Between, being appalled by Godrick's practice of grafting and the Omenkiller's slaughter of the Village of the Albinaurics. She also has a great sense of justice and is willing to seek out revenge on behalf of the slaughtered and oppressed, even if it goes against her foster father's plans.
Nubile Savage: The Champion outfit she wears leaves a lot of skin bared. The outfit's description states that the barbarian warriors from Hoarah Loux's tribe "shun excess adornment".
Pelts of the Barbarian: She wears the Champion set (the very same the Hero origins wears), which is comprised of pelts, fitting her barbarian warrior motif.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: She demonstrates having pride in being part of the Loux barbarian warrior tribe.
Shock and Awe: Her axes have the 'Thunderstorm' Ash of War skill, allowing her to call upon a storm to imbue her weapons with electricity.
Skilled, but Naive: She's a competent warrior with a strong sense of justice, but is very naive and susceptible to manipulation, as shown by her blind servitude to Gideon and the ease in which the Tarnished can trick her into drinking Seluvis's potion. This is why Gideon treats her like Dumb Muscle.
Gideon: Her youthful credulity suited my purposes. So I put her to work.
Sole Survivor: Possibly. It's not clear if Roderika survives the burning of the Roundtable Hold but if she doesn't and Nepheli has survived to that point and Fia's quest has been completed Nepheli will be last living resident of the Hold.
Undying Loyalty: She's committed to assisting her foster father's cause, and thinks she's willing to do anything to help him become Elden Lord. But her loyalty is shattered once she learns he's willing to massacre innocent people to further his cause. She instead transfers it to the Tarnished should her questline be completed, vowing to serve you when you become Elden Lord.
"Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: She's utterly dedicated to assisting her foster father. And is utterly crushed when she finds out what he's capable of.
Worthy Opponent: The player finds her in a room in Stormveil, next to a dead Banished Knight she's just killed as she gives him a eulogy, commending him for being a fine warrior.

Sorcerer Rogier

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rodgier.png

Voiced by: Ben Norris

"You can see it then, I take it? The guidance of grace. Well, enjoy it while you can. I'm Tarnished, like you. But unlike you, I've seen neither hide nor hair of this guidance for the longest time. Still, I won't forget how it felt when I first came here, to the Lands Between."

A Sorcerer who can be found somewhere in Stormveil Castle, looking for something while trying to also dodge the guards. He'll happily sell you magical Ashes of War, and if you're shown to be skilled enough, might send you to go look for that certain something in Stormveil Castle...

Apologetic Attacker: Of a sort. Towards the end of the questline, as his condition slowly deteriorates, he realizes that his impending death might cause some degree of trouble for the Tarnished, so he apologizes in advance for anything that might happen after his death. Sure enough, he can later be encountered as a spirit summoned to defend Fia and the player is forced to fight him.
Assist Character: He can be called upon as a summon for the Margit the Fell Omen fight in Stormveil.
Body Horror: His encounter with Godwyn's bloated, decaying head, having popped up in the Stormveil Castle Depths, leaves him half rotting and also bloated from the waist down. The affliction eventually kills him.
Early-Bird Cameo: You'll probably recognize the name as soon as you see him as the companion you can summon to help take on Margit.
Entertainingly Wrong: In his quest dialogue, he makes two educated guesses on the true nature of things. First, he assumes that the Black Knife Assassins hail from the Eternal City. Second, he guesses that it was Ranni who orchestrated the Night of the Black Knives, and for that reason must have the Cursemark of Death still in her possession. While both of these guesses end up leading the Tarnished on the right path, they are also horribly wrong on many accounts.
- Firstly, the Black Knife Assassins are not from the Eternal City, and are in fact never encountered in the underground at all. They are instead what are called Numen, a race of humans who hail from outside of the lands beyond and have close ties to Marika herself.
- Secondly, Ranni took no direct part in the murder of Godwyn, nor did she command the Black Knife Assassins to do so, though she did assist them through imbuing their weapons with the power of the stolen Rune of Death. Her primary goal for the theft, however, was to kill her body and thus discard her corporeal self. Rogier's guess also falls doubly short as she only holds half of the cursemark, the other half still festering within the soulless body of Godwyn.
Face–Heel Turn: Rogier's shade ends up fighting the Tarnished once they get to Fia's location in the Deeproot Depths, alongside her other champions and Lionel, though given his earlier apology concerning the trouble he might cause for the Tarnished after his death, it is not clear how much agency he has over his own actions during this fight.
Magic Knight: He's described by other characters (and his own armor set) as a Spellblade, and he indeed fights with sword and magic, although he doesn't wear any armor.
Mysterious Past: Rogier is hinted to come from a noble house, has a history with D that neither fully elaborate on, and there are signs he has been deeply damaged by some unknown tragedy in his past.
Nice Guy: He's nothing but polite and friendly to the Tarnished, and apologizes ahead of time for any complications his death will cause.
Passed in Their Sleep: Soon after meeting Ranni for the first time, particularly if the player has not been following Fia's questline, Rogier will mention that he feels as though he is about to enter a deep slumber. After leaving the Roundtable and returning, you will indeed find him asleep. Sometime later, upon checking up on him again, you will find him dead.
Royal Rapier: He uses a rapier named after him as his weapon and is set is described as being that of an aristocrat.
Sex for Solace: He's implied to meet frequently with Fia for her 'services', and she can tell the player that he 'talks often abed'.
Sorry That I'm Dying: Once his Deathroot infection becomes terminal, he apologizes to the Tarnished since he seems to have some inkling that, thanks to his disease, his death won't be the end, and that it will likely spell trouble for the Tarnished.
Stepford Smiler: He is definitely kind, but according to his armor description, he is actually a very troubled man with a lot of demons, and is merely projecting an image of being a carefree wanderer. Fia can also tell the player that Rogier has trouble sleeping, and often talks in his sleep.
Robe and Wizard Hat: He has the 'classic wizard' appearance, wearing a wizard-pointed hat and an aristocratic outfit.
Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: His communion with the great corpse beneath Stormveil gives him the ability to read the runes of Death, but also infests the lower half of his body with death's curse, crippling and eventually killing him.
We Used to Be Friends: He and D used to be friends and worked together while researching Death and Those Who Live In Death, but Rogier's being sympathetic for Those Who Live In Death is frowned upon by D, and their relationship is now greatly soured.

Finger Reader Enia

Voiced by: Souad Faress

"I interpret the words of the Fingers, envoys to the Greater Will."

The Finger Reader who is in charge of interpreting The Two Fingers in the inner chambers of the Roundtable Hold.

Cool Old Lady: A little grouchy but she certainly fits this trope, especially when she reveals her mischievous side. She definitely proves herself to be this later on by encouraging the Tarnished to Screw Destiny and set the Erdtree on fire to become the Elden Lord, the Two Fingers be damned.
Dare to Be Badass: After learning the way to the Erdtree is blocked, she gets over her shock and encourages the Tarnished to set the tree ablaze and claim the Elden Ring. Especially because burning the Erdtree is the cardinal sin of the Golden Order, and she suggests this while in the same room as the Two Fingers themselves. After you've set the tree ablaze, her parting words of "Let the words of the Fingers guide you" change to "Do what you feel is right". She narrates the cutscene that occurs after you defeat Maliketh, wishing the Tarnished all the best on their quest with her last words.
Expy: Of Ludleth of Courland, being the NPC in the hub area who provides the equivalent of boss soul transposition. And like Ludleth, she tells you to Screw Destiny and seize your fate with your own hands, even if it should entail committing a blasphemous act.
Hidden Depths: Initially, she's introduced as just an interpreter for the Two Fingers. But when the Two Fingers prove to be completely useless at resolving the issue of the Erdtree itself blocking your way, she has no problem encouraging you to burn it down, even though, as she acknowledges, the idea is clearly blasphemous.
I Choose to Stay: After igniting the Erdtree, she choose to stay within the burning Roundtable Hold, as her duty is to interpret the Two Fingers till the end. Next time you visit her, she has died (though you can still receive boss rewards and armor from her).
Magical Barefooter: She's a Finger Reader who doesn't wear any type of footwear.
Not Too Dead to Save the Day: Even after she dies from the Roundtable's fire, she is still somehow able to turn your Remembrances into gear and sell you boss armor sets.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When the Two Fingers want the Tarnished to do nothing while they commune with the Greater Will, a very lengthy process, she's genuinely concerned when she realizes the player won't last that long. This spurs her to give you advice on how to burn the Erdtree in spite of it being blasphemous to the Greater Will. Her farewell after doing so displays her shift in attitude, encouraging you to "do what you feel is right" rather than follow the Fingers' words as she would instruct before.
Time Abyss: She's old enough to refer to Gideon, one of the oldest Tarnished, as "young Gideon", and later states that thousands or even tens of thousands of moons (read: months) are a drop in the bucket for her.
Translator Buddy: She can somehow understand the Two Fingers and translates their "speech" to the Tarnished. She even makes a different voice while doing so.

The Dung Eater

Voiced by: Jim Johnson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dung_eater_npcs_elden_ring_wiki_guide_300px.jpg

"Have you ever felt the curse? With your whole being?"

The Dung Eater is a reviled and hated thing that lives in the sewers of the capital. Give him enough time, however, and he'll eventually make his presence known...

Alas, Poor Villain: He's utterly horrified if you force-feed him Seluvis' potion. His description as one of his puppets also invokes this.
"The Dung Eater despaired at how he met his end. How hideous and sinister this puppet is, and yet, its utter despair invites one to care for it."
Anal Probing: The "defilement" the Dung Eater inflicts leaves the victim with a bloody crotch and makes them unable to reincarnate. While one interpretation (detailed below) is some form of castration, another is a reference to myths about kappa stealing humans' shirikodama (an organ that supposedly contains the soul) by yanking it out of their asses (as previously demonstrated by the Headless from Sekiro). The basic idea being that the "dung" he eats is actually human souls that he physically ripped out of people and trapped them inside himself. Supporting this theory is the fact that, whenever his red phantom is in the Roundtable Hold, Roderika says she can hear many spirits screaming in agony.
Asshole Victim: Giving him Seluvis's potion is about the only thing you can do to him that absolutely terrifies him. And it is a pretty horrible fate, to be turned irrevocably into a mindless doll to be commanded at someone else's whims, so horrible that the description of his spirit ashes even says one cannot help but feel bad for him despite how awful he is, but given that he inflicts a Fate Worse than Death on others, it's definitely quite the karmic punishment.
Assist Character: If you've freed him from his cell but haven't beaten his invasion, he'll be available to summon for the "Mohg, the Omen" and Morgott boss fights.
Astral Projection: He appears as a Bloody Finger at the Roundtable Hold, but doesn't do anything hostile. His real body is in the sewer jail.
Ambiguously Related: Several hints are given that his "Seedbed Curse" might be an alternate form of the Omen curse. His armor set mentions that he always admired Omens, and boosts the effect of the Omen Bairn when worn. The Seedbed Curse item itself also has Omen horns growing on it.
Atrocious Alias: Every indication is that he chose the name Dung Eater for himself, since he clearly embraces it and repeats it to himself constantly as if it indicates how important he is. Though it could just as easily be an Appropriated Appellation; the Dung Eater has proudly embraced his Hated by All status, which would include embracing any insults people threw at him and wearing them with pride.
Ax-Crazy: The Dung Eater is batshit insane, he knows it, and he loves it. He takes a very delightful liking to the way he "defiles" his victims which is stated to be so horrifying nobody wants to go into detail about it, which speaks volumes of just how demented and psychotic he is.
Back from the Dead: The opening cutscene shows him being hanged by a horde of townspeople at the time of the Shattering, but revived by an errant shard of grace with the noose still around his neck.
Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: He's a disconcertingly earnest and sincere believer in this trope, spending most of his time firmly insisting that it is his divine duty to be as disgusting as possible, 'bless' the world with death and defilement, and create more people as repulsive as he is.
Barbarian Longhair: His cultural background is unknown (though the intro implies he originally comes from a large city, possibly Leyndell), but he's probably the most depraved character in the Lands Between, and when unmasked with the model viewer he has a huge, wild mane of unkempt hair.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: His motivations are… strange even by FromSoftware standards, to say the least. He definitely seems to understand he is both cursed and deeply hated, but he also seems to see it as a holy duty and also as an art.
Card-Carrying Villain: Taken to a bizarre extreme. He seems to think it's genuinely cosmologically important for him to be the most disgusting person in existence, and his sole reason for living is to defile, ruin, and kill everyone he can (not necessarily in that order).
Corrupted Character Copy: Of Solaire. Both are devout warriors with unshakeable faith in their beliefs, but the Dung Eater's beliefs are the farthest possible thing from noble. As if to really hammer the point in, the Dung Eater wears a necklace with a sun, not unlike the one worn by our jolly cooperator, except the Dung Eater's is dulled and gray. The Dung Eater's objective is also to bring about a "cursed blessing" to all in contrast to Solaire wanting to reignite the flame that will lead mankind to prosperity rather than allow them to wallow in despair.
The Corruption: Whatever he does to those he kills defiles their very soul to the point they can't return to the Erdtree. Taken to its logical conclusion if you give him enough Seedbed Curses, after which he dies "making" a Mending Rune that, if used to mend the Elden Ring, spreads it to everyone.
Crippling Castration: He spreads the Seedbed Curse by "defiling" the corpses of his victims. Most of his victims' only visible sign of injury is a blood-soaked rag covering their crotches — except for Black Guard, who is covered in blood. Makes one wonder what a "Seedbed" could possibly refer to in the context of the human body...
Death by Irony: Given his modus operandi regarding his kills, it's a bit ironic that during gameplay, the Dung Eater can be defiled by a giant crab, though in this case, "defilement" stands for being inflicted with Deathblight, causing his body to be internally splintered by black twig branches and be holstered upwards by a trunk.
Devil Complex: The Dung Eater identifies as an Omen and desires to be a Dark Messiah that spreads their curse to the rest of the world, even allowing himself to be defiled and killed to that end. He'll get his wish if you give him 5 Seedbed Curses, dying to spawn a cursed Mending Rune that will corrupt the Elden Ring if it's used in the reforging. Notably, he seems to see himself as the devil of the Golden Order specifically — unlike other people who are antagonistic to the Greater Will like Ranni, Rykard, and Mohg, he doesn't seem to want to impose a new cosmology on the Lands Between, but to represent all that is shunned and loathsome within the present one — even a victory for him is still playing by the Greater Will's rules, in a warped sort of way.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: An extremely twisted take. His mission is to make everyone else just as cursed as those who are already shunned by the Greater Will, so that the marks of its disfavour instead become a badge of honour for its 'chosen'. Part of the problem of this is that the Greater Will's disfavour (as he interprets it) isn't a simple matter of Fantastic Racism, but also a punishment for poor human conduct, and so he's fighting for murder, rape, and every other form of depravity to become 'blessed' behaviour as well.
Even Evil Has Standards: He surprisingly will not try to go around the Sacred Hospitality spell of the Roundtable Hold to kill and defile you or other residents, despite saying it is the only thing stopping him from doing so.
Evil Sounds Deep: He has a deep, raspy voice and is one of the vilest people alive.
Fate Worse than Death: He inflicts this on those he's killed, and to those afflicted with the Seedbed Curse. Anyone who he "defiles" will be forever cursed and unable to return to the Erdtree. The Blessing of Despair ending ensures everyone in the Lands Between will be cursed and suffer this fate. You can turn the tables and inflict one on him if you give him Seluvis's potion that is meant for Nepheli, and turn him into a mindless puppet. The description even says that it's such a fundamentally awful fate that it makes one feel sympathy even for someone as despicable as him.
Fluffy the Terrible: "Dung Eater" sounds like a medieval-era variant of a juvenile insult. There is very little that is funny about the man himself.
For the Evulz: There is no rhyme or reason for the horrid things he does to the bodies and souls of his victims, and what he plans to do to the world at large. He does it simply because he can, and he wants to.
Gallows Humor: He's likely chosen to call himself the "Dung Eater". Closer inspection of his slide in the opening cutscene makes it apparent that his hanged body is being pelted by the outraged, bereaved crowd with a substance that's visibly ambiguous, but contextually...
Groin Attack: Implied - Those the Dung Eater defiled have a visible stain around their crotch.
Godzilla Threshold: It says a lot about how dire the state of the Lands Between has become that this guy qualified as a potential candidate for Elden Lord in the Greater Will's eyes. If you do help him accomplish his vision for the Lands Between, it shows exactly why this trope isn’t always a good idea.
Gonk: While only visible through either positioning the camera to be inside his helmet or through hacks, the Dung Eater's face is… well, let's just say that it's definitely something only a mother could love. Between his squished features, slit and slanted eyes situated too wide apart, large forehead, flattened nose, pronounced lips, and unkempt beard, it's clear that his ugliness is not only inwards.
Hated by All: The first image we see of the Dung Eater is him being lynched in full armor, and everybody who knows of his existence is either frightened or infuriated by him. Given that the Seedbed Curse he gives can actively prevent souls from returning to the Erdtree and reincarnating (they still reincarnate, but as Omen instead), it's hard not to understand why. Bizarrely, the Dung Eater himself seems to want this reputation, desiring to be hated by practically everything and everyone around him.
Hates Everyone Equally: As a firm adherent of Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad with a gigantic Devil Complex, he seems to consider this mindset to be a genuine religious obligation and his equivalent of being an All-Loving Hero. 'A cursed blessing to all', indeed.
Hereditary Curse: Whatever the curse the Dung Eater inflicts is, he expects it to carry onto the victim's children and spread with successive generations.
Horrifying the Horror:
- Everyone hates and fears him, even his former cellmate.
- On the receiving end if you make him a puppet of Seluvis.
Humanoid Abomination: By the time you meet him, he's definitely a cut above your average Serial Killer. The dude is capable of killing and defiling people in the most absurdly secure locations in the land, somehow shows up to the Roundtable Hold uninvited (ordinarily supposed to be impossible), and Roderika says she feels the anguish of countless souls that he's killed and consumed. If you complete his quest, his depraved ambitions will end up defiling the world via a Mending Rune he created himself.
Laser-Guided Karma: He lives to defile the corpses of others and place curses upon them, preventing them from returning to the Erdtree and thus being cursed wandering spirits for eternity. You can curse him with the same fate, but ultimately he wants that. However, using Seluvis's Fantastic Drug on him will turn his soul into a puppet slave to Seluvis and thus the player and Ranni, and he dies clearly afraid of what's coming, desperately trying to affirm his own identity.
Dung Eater: No...! I am the Dung Eater... I am...
Mighty Glacier: The Dung Eater is tanky, even for someone of his level, thanks to his Omen set.
Misanthrope Supreme: He is noted to be a strange figure with the mind of an Omen without the body of one, he just hates everyone and wants the worst to them.
Motive Rant: Gives you one after defeating his invasion outside Leyndell. You really have no excuse to free him after he explains exactly what he intends to do unless you plan on following his quest to the end.
"Give me your blessing. Defile my flesh with the seedbed curse. Again and again, until it is done. Until a cursed ring coalesces, that one day may defile Order itself. Countless, I have killed. And countless, I have defiled. And soon the fruits will be borne. Hundreds will be reborn cursed, and they'll bear thousands of cursed children, who will bear tens of thousands more. A few of those will be born like me, and they'll kill, and defile, and bless in my stead."
Murderers Are Rapists: The Dung Eater is a prolific serial murderer, and while there's no indication he has sexual intercourse with his victims, there's strong evidence his "defilement" involves sexually torturing/mutilating them, as the corpses of his victims all have a noticeably large bloodstain around the crotch.
Noodle Incident: What he did to become known as the Dung Eater, and only as the Dung Eater, is a matter that is never touched upon. Though that really depends on if the name is self-explanatory or not.
Nothing Is Scarier: It's never explained just what he does to the corpses of the people he kills to infect them with the Seedbed Curse, nor what the exact effects are beyond barring them from the Erdtree. Whatever it is, it's horrifying enough that his former cellmate Big Boggart, who himself is a hardened criminal, was left permanently scarred after witnessing the Dung Eater kill and desecrate his friend.
"Not So Different" Remark: The Dung Eater initially has zero interest in the Tarnished since they're not afflicted by the Seedbed Curse, and once they are, he promises to kill and defile them. Following his instructions and defeating his Red Phantom confuses the Dung Eater greatly as to why he can't kill them, until he realizes the answer: they're just like him. He then requests that the Tarnished defile his body.
Obviously Evil: The game leaves no doubt that assisting the Dung Eater will not end well for anybody. He is called "loathsome" by everyone and lives up to it.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Somehow, he managed to get Seedbed Curses into Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. So not only did he get to the Consecrated Snowfield without a Haligtree Medallion, but he managed to survive the runebears and Albinauric Archers in the Snowfield, find the Hidden Path to the Haligtree, survive platforming while being shot at by Oracle Envoys, and fight the strongest regular enemies (and probably a few minibosses) in the entire game just to get the chance to defile people in Elphael. You can say a lot of bad things about the guy, but he certainly doesn't lack dedication.
Omnicidal Maniac: He simply aims to kill and utterly defile everything and everyone, and it's possible for you to help him accomplish this goal.
One-Man Army: He was not only able to kill thousands of people, but two of his defiled victims' bodies are found in Elphael, Malenia and Miquella's capital city, one of the hardest-to-reach and most fortified locations in the Lands Between. Evidently, even that couldn't stop him.
Overflow Error: His goal in life is to create the theological equivalent of one of these. If an Outer God only ever interacts with people by cursing them, then those curses will, in context, become the expressions of its 'favour' and the only way for its worshippers to gain its 'blessing'. Thus, people like him become the embodiments of the new Golden Order rather than its antithesis.
Pariah Prisoner: His former cellmate Big Boggart is absolutely terrified of him, and calls him a "god-forsaken monster."
Pay Evil unto Evil: On the receiving end; giving him Seluvis’ potion damns him to a pretty horrifying fate and is an extremely cruel thing to do, but given how much of a bastard he is and how it’s the only way to truly punish him (since he doesn’t mind being killed otherwise), you likely won’t feel bad about doing so.
People Puppets: He can be turned into a puppet if he's given Seluvis' potion. He can be bought from him after giving him some Starlight Shards.
Poetic Serial Killer: The Dung Eater is surprisingly soft-spoken and articulate most of the time, and while his motives as he explains them are utterly deranged and evil, they have a certain logic to them that make sense when you consider his implied background.
Recurring Element: He's this game's answer to Yurt, the Silent Chief, Knight Lautrec, and the Suspicious Beggar, a Serial Killer who murders other friendly NPCs after being freed from a dangerous spot and shows up in your Player Headquarters as the Token Evil Teammate. He differs slightly from the previous iterations of this archetype in that he first appears in the Hold before being freed from jail and is prevented from killing anyone there by its spell of serenity. That doesn't stop him from somehow bringing a shitload of corpses with him and is also little comfort for Big Boggart, should you be crazy enough to free him.
Red Is Violent: The Dung Eater first appears in the hold as a red spectral and in-person, his armor has a reddish shade of pink. His personal weapon, the Sword of Milos, also has a Bleed effect. He's a murderous madman who wants to inflict pain and misery on everybody.
Religion of Evil: While the Golden Order of the Greater Will isn't exactly squeaky-clean in its 'normal' state, it at least seems to have some loose relationship to conventional human morality. Thus, the Dung Eater appears to have turned it into his own personal version of one of these by inverting its teachings, becoming and doing everything it preaches against in order to make everyone equally cursed by it and therefore equally blessed (thus replacing the existing religion of the Greater Will with his own as what were previously considered curses become the only possible way to get its attention).
Sadist: As if being a raging psycho wasn't mad enough, the Dung Eater also takes great delight in "defiling" anybody he could get his hands on and talks lovingly about his intentions which are... bad, to say the least.
Savage Spiked Weapons: He wields the Sword of Milos, a greatsword fashioned from the sharpened spine of a giant. Sharpened spikes on the sides cause blood loss buildup, on top of a unique skill (Shriek of Milos) that causes the wielder to emit a wail that reduces all damage negation and status resistances in nearby foes.
Screaming Warrior: Normally soft-spoken, but gets intense when the fighting starts.
Dung Eater: BLESS YOOOOOUUUUUUU!
Scary Impractical Armor: His armor, the Omen set, resembles one of the eponymous malformed creatures with its horns cut off. The Dung Eater wore it as he considered himself an Omen with the wrong body. Although his armor is quite resistant to damage, it's also very heavy (55 weight).
Schmuck Bait: If nothing else, he's honest about his intentions. Upon detecting that you have a Seedbed Curse, he gives you a key and asks you to free his corporeal body so he can kill you and defile your corpse. When you meet his corporeal body, he demands that you let him out so he can kill you and defile your corpse. If you let him out, he leaves a note at the Roundtable Hold telling you where you can meet him so he can kill you and defile your corpse. If you choose to go there, he will promptly invade and attempt to... well, just guess. There's no reason to follow his questline other than this trope. Things only escalate after you defeat him, and he invites you to help him ruin the world because making good decisions clearly isn't your thing.
Serial Killer: The Dung Eater has made it his life's calling to kill people, defile their corpses, and infect as many souls as possible with the Seedbed Curse, thus preventing them from returning to the Erdtree and reincarnating. According to the description of him as a puppet, the Dung Eater has killed thousands.
The Man They Couldn't Hang: As shown in the game's introduction.
They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Using camera tricks or hacking to see his face reveals that he looks fairly normal; not handsome by any means, but not deformed either. This actually bothers him greatly, since he considers himself an Omen in spirit, and hates that he can't share their visible deformities. His armor is thus made to look like he has cut-down Omen horns.
Token Evil Teammate: Downplayed. Despite somehow being in the Roundtable Hold, the Dung Eater is not a member of their group, and it's unlikely he would ever be recognized as such given his reputation. Nevertheless, he is one of the Tarnished revived by grace and is therefore one of the viable candidates of becoming Elden Lord alongside Hoarah Loux, Gideon Ofnir, and the others. Like Fia and Goldmask, he can also produce a Mending Rune that can usher a new age when used to repair the Elden Ring. However, the Dung Eater is also a reviled monster whose brutal maiming prevents his victims' souls from returning to the Erdtree, so that they are reincarnated as Omen.
Tom the Dark Lord: One of the most monstrous, vile men to ever live… is called the Dung Eater. It's a testament to his utter depravity that many are terrified of him in spite of it.
Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: Unsurprisingly, a guy called "The Dung Eater" is not one for personal hygiene. He wallows in blood and is surrounded by flies while sitting in the Roundtable Hold, and his armor is described as being "rank" (foul-smelling and unpleasant) by Big Boggart.
Undignified Death: An unscripted example; during the fight against him in the outer moat, he can be killed by a giant crab which spews Deathblight spores and he can come under its crossfire. Said crab comes out of nowhere and the Dung Eater is wholly fixated on killing you, so getting offed by the sudden emergence and interruption of a common enemy does feel cheap and undignified. Also, seeing what Deathblight does to its victims, one could assume the Dung Eater gets defiled in a different, but similarly horrifying fashion. Though given his nature as a Tarnished, this death is just a minor roadblock in the long-run.
Villains Never Lie: If there's a single good thing that can be said about the Dung Eater, it is that he is not cagey, evasive, or even remotely subtle about his intentions — talking to him, at basically any stage of his questline, will lead to him almost casually informing you that if he's ever released from captivity, he's going to murder you and desecrate your corpse, as well as your friends, your family, and anyone else you've ever met, and the only thing he's upset about is the fact that he's not currently out free to murder more people and desecrate their corpses. You really have no excuse for freeing him from captivity after that.
Villains Out Shopping: When his projection is encountered at Roundtable Hold, he doesn't attack anyone (though he says that he would were it not for the hold's "serenity") and instead just seems to be getting some peace and quiet.
Visionary Villain: While he might seem to be a simple savage at first glance, the Dung Eater has a disturbingly coherent ideology that he wants to apply to the whole world; namely, denying the grace of gold to every living being, so that all are doomed to an eternity of cursed rebirth as Omens.
Wants to Be Hated: The Dung Eater considers himself an Omen and seeks to be what the Golden Order sees Omens to be; shunned monsters whose only purpose is to curse others. To this end, he dresses like an Omen and even wields a sword made from the spine of a giant who was bullied for being short (for a giant anyway).
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Understated, but it's implied that he's been hated and feared for his curse his entire life, just like the Omens who you find all over the sewers of Leyndell. Which, if true, shows why he wants to be just like an Omen. It's left for the player to wonder if his psychopathic tendencies were a result of him deciding to give the world a real reason to hate and fear him. It's also possible that, since he considers himself to be an Omen born in the wrong body, he wants to be hated and feared, just as the Omen are.
Zombie Advocate: Though he never says it outright, and it may just be an unintended side effect of his goals, he can be viewed as one for the Omen. After all, if he succeeds in spreading his curse to everyone in the world, and his curse really does cause people to reincarnate as Omen as its description implies, then the unjust persecution of Omen will one day end, simply because there eventually won't be any normal humans left to persecute them.

Characters / Elden Ring: Roundtable Hold

Roundtable Hold

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