Heartwarming / Elden Ring

Elden Ring shows that even in a land as twisted by war as the Lands Between, there can be sparks of light and hope.

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Game

• Diallos is the definition of a Classical Antihero. He belongs to the highly respected House of Hoslow, a noble family with the ominous mantra "the tale of House Hoslow is told in blood". Unlike his accomplished family however he is described as "all talk and no trousers". Some even call him "the shame of House Hoslow" due to his apparent cowardice and shortcomings as a warrior. He knows this, too: underneath his proud exterior he is riddled with doubts and insecurities. After he reaches a low point, you discover him in the hidden village of Jarburg tending to its innocent, defenseless living jar inhabitants. He tells you he's chosen to forge his own path and make his own choices, no longer caring about glory or power. When the village is subsequently attacked by a poacher, Diallos fends him off but is mortally wounded in the process. The 'coward', who was never a warrior to begin with, had given his life for a cause no one would ever know about. If you tell him some of the jars survived (the truth), he'll respond with his dying breath:
  Diallos: Then all is well... This fool proved his worth, in the end...
  • The description of the mask he drops reveals something else: the tale of House Hoslow is not told in the blood of their enemies - the tale of House Hoslow is told in their own blood, spilled for a cause they're willing to fight for. Diallos wasn't looking for a way to slay his enemies, he was looking for a cause he believed was worth fighting for. He finally found it in protecting the innocent.
    'Diallos's Mask' item description: Diallos Hoslow had an older brother who was a stern, self-possessed man of a few words. His achievements made him seem out of reach. And so the younger aspired to be like the older. Yearning for the day that he would tell the tale of House Hoslow, in blood. Knowing full well that it would break his brother's heart.
  • Like most other NPCs, you can provoke Diallos into hostility if you attack him enough. If you do this after he's moved to Jarburg, he shakes off his self-loathing and fights you with his all, showing how much he cares for his newfound purpose.
  • Jar-Bairn is so impressed by Diallos' courage that he adopts his mantra for his own and even takes some of Diallos' remains into himself in the hopes that Diallos' strength would be passed on to him.
• In the Roundtable Hold off to the right of Smithing Master Hewg, you will find Fia, a somber woman clad all in black sitting on a bed. After you approach her, she will ask something of you. What terrible and foul thing does she want? She wants a hug. That's right, in a Souls game with all the death, decay, and sadness in every installment, there is finally someone who gives the MC something they probably have always needed: a simple hug (which does grant an item that temporarily raises poise and can be re-obtained by having her hug you again), and all it costs is some of your HP. Though that makes the reveal of her being a Death Cultist all the more gut-wrenching later.
  Fia: You are so very warm…
  • Even her status as a Death Cultist is heartwarming in the sense that Fia seems to genuinely believe in the cause of ending the discrimination against Those Who Live in Death and freeing Godwyn from his deathless state.
• As seen in the Tearjerker section, Roderika has a pretty sorry lot in life, but it doesn't stay that way, after talking to her enough to get the Jellyfish spirit, Roderika will go to Roundtable Hold, and if you do a small back and forth sidequest talking to Smithing Master Hewg and Roderika, you can convince the girl to become a Spirit Tuning Apprentice, who will level up your spirits. Hewg also mentions that he owed a Spirit Tuner a great debt and that by training Roderika he hopes that it will in some small way repay the kindness he was given.
  • When the Tarnished initially talks to Hewg about looking after Roderika, he will dismiss the idea entirely, since a girl like her doesn't need a monster like him in her life. As their little sidequest goes on, however, he starts warming up to her, eventually, however reluctantly, admitting that he has come to see her as a daughter of sorts.
  • Roderika's ending is especially heartwarming when you have the context of hindsight. In nearly every past FromSoft game, from Dark Souls to Sekiro, nearly every NPC you encounter either dies horribly after having failed utterly in what they set out to do, go mad/turn into a monster and force you to kill them, and even those who survive tend to be utterly broken by their experiences and disappear. Roderika is one of the very few characters in a FromSoft game that can get a happy ending.
• It's bittersweet, but Radahn meeting his end the way he wanted to: in battle against a host of skilled warriors. After how he suffered and the destruction him being infected with the Scarlet Rot caused, it's good to see him finally be freed from that torment.
  • Radahn's entire story is littered with these. He learned gravitational magic so that he wouldn't have to abandon his horse, Leonard, due to the difference in size between them, and he showed immense compassion and camaraderie towards his troops, to where the Radahn Festival was organized purely so they could free him from his suffering, due to them being heartbroken by watching their beloved general fall so far.
  • How about the lead-up to Radahn's boss battle, besides being generally awesome? His former soldiers present it as a festival and celebration of the man their commander was, and boast of how epic it would be for Radahn to face such mighty warriors who have come to meet the challenge head up - also knowing full well this would be a Mercy Kill to put the general out of his misery after being reduced to a shell of his former self. The announcer even goes so far as to personally thank the player Tarnished directly if he's approached after defeating Radahn, grateful to ensure his lord is finally getting the peace they wanted him to get. Not only that, but if the player had managed to get Blaidd and Alexander to join in on the festivities, they can be talked before and after the fight - genuinely complementing their skills in combat and hoping for more amazing battles where they can do the same in the future. It does also provide a bit of a punch if their respective questlines are completed, which respectively leads to their deaths at the hands of the Tarnished themselves - Blaidd going mad due to his unwitting nature as a pawn of the Two Fingers who will target Ranni if she were to turn against them, and Alexander after a Duel to the Death against the Tarnished (whom he does consider a Worthy Opponent all throughout) to prove his mettle as a warrior.
  • Blaidd has nothing but positive things to say about Radahn. It's not even in a way like he views Radahn as a Worthy Opponent, he seems to genuinely admire the general calling him the strongest Demigod and a legend. It gets better, as while his primary reason for the fight was presumably to free the stars, he still ended up aiding Radahn by assisting in the Mercy Kill.
  • With Radahn, you have enough summons to create a literal army to fight alongside you. for the first time in all of the Soulsborne franchise, you can summon all of the NPCs to come alongside you to defeat the demigod of war. Never before are you part of something so cooperative, in story. In short, in a franchise that is the epitome of you against the world. For once, you are not alone.
  • The Sword Monument outside Radahn's castle seems to confirm that the purpose of holding back the stars was to defend Sellia (a Nox settlement) from the Falling Star Beasts. Even driven to insanity, Radahn defended his home to his last breath. (This also explains why a meteor breaks through to the rest of the Nox the minute he dies.)
• How about the fact that we finally have a FromSoftware game with unambiguously happy endings? You accomplish what you set out to do, reforging the Cosmic Keystone and ruling over the land with your chosen spouse, and you can free the souls from the curse of immortality/reincarnation. It should be elaborated that four of the six endings are promising looks into a new epoch;
  • In the Age of Fracture, the Tarnished takes the old pantheon to task and creates an age in their image, separate from the machinations of the previous pantheon.
  • In the Age of Duskborn, the Tarnished can realize Fia's dream, incorporating life after Death into the order of life, thus ending the persecution of Those Who Live Within Death by making it a part of the life cycle. The dead can finally die, and one of the minority groups treated with scorn can finally be given equality.
  • In the Age of the Stars, Ranni gets a chance to fix what the last pantheon started and frees herself from the stranglehold of the Golden Order and the Fingers. She takes the Elden Ring somewhere far away, ensuring the wars for it will end. The player also wins personally, finding true love.
  • In the Age of Order, the gods are finally held responsible for what their squabbling caused, creating a new order where perfect order may just be possible - a system where no one can influence the Golden Order (and by extension the Elden Ring) and as a result must allow the age of prosperity to continue.
• Early in the game, you receive the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes from Roderika. The spirit is said to be that of a girl named Aurelia, in search of her lost home. Much, much later in the game, in the Mountaintops of the Giants, you can find an area named Stargazers Ruins. There is a Spirit Jellyfish NPC in the ruins, distraught at the disappearance of her sister. Inspecting a gravesite in the area will reveal that the spirit in the ruins is Aurieliette, the sister of Aurelia! By summoning Aurelia in the form of her Spirit Jellyfish Ashes, you reunite the two sisters, and they both disappear into the afterlife to "gaze at the stars" together. Quite a heartwarming resolution for what is normally a very dark and grim game.
• Despite being a “bluntstone” who was practically laughed out of Raya Lucaria, if you give Thops the key to the Academy the other sorcerers allow him back inside and even provide him a workspace and materials. Definitely bittersweet as it’s shortly before his death from exhaustion, but even if they sneered at him they weren’t so heartless as to deny a fellow classmate a place to ride out the post-apocalypse. It was such an unexpected move on the part of the Academy Sorcerers that most initially assumed they had murdered him, until the description of his spell showed the truth. Thops is so moved by the glintstone key he has trouble thanking the Tarnished and tells him he might even see him teaching class.
  • The description of the spell he worked himself to the bone to craft, Thops's Barrier, goes out of its way to note that for all its simplicity and its creator's supposed lack of intellect, it would be such a fundamentally transformative work of arcana that Raya Lucaria would found an entire conspectus of magical scholarship based on it in the ages to come.
  • And it's not just the magic itself that will be passed down. The same description implies that the future teachers of Raya Lucaria will not sugarcoat how foolish their predecessors were for blindly rejecting Thops's innovative research. Those future students will be taught to keep their minds open, not just to their own revolutionary ideas, but to those of others. Though he will never know it, Thops didn't just create a new brand of magic; he changed the philosophy of Raya Lucaria for the better.
    Description of Thops's Barrier: Future generations will learn. They will know the foolishness of the sneering sorcerers who ridiculed this theory, little realizing that it was in fact a discovery worthy of a new conspectus of the academy.
• Boc the demi-human was cast out by his kin seemingly for being too civilized. And when he attempts to sneak back into his old home to retrieve his sewing gear, they beat him up and leave him for dead. If the player then goes through the cave and kills the demi-human chieftain to retrieve Boc's things, he sounds almost on the verge of tears with gratitude. It's perhaps the first gesture of kindness he's had in a long time.
  • He gets conflicted later on in his personal quest, expressing a desire to be reborn as a less hideous human being. The player can give him the option to be reborn through Rennala, which would just kill him shortly afterwards since her rebirth process is imperfect without her Great Rune, or use a Prattling Pate to tell him "You're beautiful". If talked to about it right after, he will say that the only person who only told him that before was his mother, and will ask the player again if they truly mean it. He's overcome with joy if they say that they do, and swears to serve them as their seamster forever.
    • Said Prattling Pate was also more than likely made by his mother to serve as a comfort for him. The item description is just unbelievably sweet.
  Twisted clay sculpt in the shape of a demi-human head.
  Emits a voice that says "You're beautiful."
  A wistful fetish that imparts voices and words on an eternal journey.
  Unconditional love. Unrestrained assurance. It must have been a mother speaking.
• Ranni's relationships with Blaidd and Iji is this in spades. Ranni and Blaidd are Childhood Friends since they were little, even though Blaidd was originally given to her by the Two Fingers just as a servant/bodyguard, and Iji had been watching over them all the while like a grandfather figure. If you talk to the miniature Ranni in Ainsel River, she'll say that both Blaidd and Iji had been too kind, staying with her even though they knew what she's trying to do, and later on will even ask you to tell Iji and Blaidd that she loves them before leaving on her self-imposed destiny alone.
  • Her relationship with the Tarnished - in other words, you - could also become one should you pursue her questline no matter how many times she left you behind. This is especially notable when she left you in Ainsel River, because the next area if you want to chase after her is the Lake of Rot, perhaps the closest area in the game to hell, and to reach her not only do you have to go through that, you also have to go through two bosses before you can once again reach Ranni. The only thing that may serve as your motivation is the item she left behind - a key to the chest in Rennala's room - which contains a ring she only gives to her spouse. In other words, the most likely reason for the Tarnished to go chase after her through hell and back is because of love. Additionally, the hardest spell to learn in the game (in regards to the level required) is Ranni's Dark Moon. How can you get it? By going through the aforementioned Brutal Bonus Level and everything else to complete her questline. To put it simply, the requirement to study this one spell isn't just stats, but also love.
  • Another layer to Ranni's relationship with the Tarnished, is that their relationship is a foil for what happened with her parents. While Radagon left Rennala, leaving her heartbroken, the Tarnished keeps coming back to Ranni, despite her best attempts to keep them away. From Ranni's perspective the Tarnished is a pawn/ally she could use to accomplish her goal but their continued persistence to always come back eventually has Ranni acknowledge how important they have become to her. The Tarnished isn't working some angle. They are there for her.
  Ranni: My dear consort, eternal.
• The Odd Friendship between Blaidd and Merchant Kalé. It's only touched on briefly and doesn't come up again, but becomes ever sweeter the more you learn about them both. Blaidd is described in-game as a "guarded soul" and even calls Kalé a "bloody busybody" on meeting the Tarnished, yet Blaidd trusts you by virtue of being sent his way by Kalé, a fact he recognises by the gesture you use alone. The Nomadic Merchants to a one prove to be wary and skittish, often hiding in obscure and dangerous places due to brutal persecution they've faced since before the Shattering, yet Kalé is not only fond of Blaidd but openly so. He's eager to introduce the Tarnished to Blaidd and reassures you that there's nothing to fear, claiming the Half-Wolf is "boorish, blunt, and couldn't find his nose with both hands" in one breath before calling him "a good egg" with the next.
  Kalé: Oh, then you met Blaidd, did you? Wonderful. I'm glad I pointed you in his direction. [...] I think the two of you are sure to find the best in one another.
• In general, the Tarnished meets many people that they can come to consider friends in one way or the other, more so than any other Soulsborne protagonist before them. And though those friendships often end in tragedy such as Blaidd or Alexander it still helps give the whole game a feel of constant companionship.
  • A particular example is Blackguard Big Boggart, a petty scoundrel which can be friends with the Tarnished really easily simply by buying some of his prawns. By the time of his second encounter, he quickly drops his aggressive attitude and welcomes the Tarnished fondly by offering some crab.
    Big Boggart: [aggressively] What are you lookin' at? [realizes who he's talking to] Oh... you again, is it. Perfect bloody timing, actually. I got crab, cooked up fresh.
  • Kalé is one of the first truly friendly faces you see in Elden Ring, selling you the vital crafting kit and bonding with you over both your peoples being spurned by grace and left to wander. He's one of the only named NPCs who doesn't head off anywhere, doesn't get murdered when you're not looking, doesn't turn on you if you make a choice on a path somewhere along the way. At literally any point in the game, you can return to the Church of Elleh and see the brightly dressed Kalé sat at his fire, playing his beautiful music with his mule nearby. Even after burning the Erdtree, with Leyndell coated in a thick blanket of ash and the Roundtable Hold on fire with its familiar inhabitants either fleeing or in peril, you can teleport back to the grace in the church and reassure yourself that here, nothing is burning and your friend is safe and happy to see you.
    Kalé: Ah, it's you again. Always a pleasure.
  • It's not uncommon for players to get into the habit of returning to Kalé's location, the Church of Elleh and a convenient Site of Grace, once they're done with a gaming session. Coming back to a peaceful place and a friendly face, as if to let the Tarnished rest in safety before they start up the game again.
• The fact that House Caria not only refused to enslave Trolls, but even knighted them and taught them magic, and in return saw the Gentle Giant Genius Bruiser side to the trolls no one else ever got to see.
• Refusing to kill or dose Rya with the Tonic of Forgetfulness will have her set out on a journey to continue her mother's work, thanking you for your kindness and calling you her champion... she may be a part of a villainous organization, but you and Rya prove there are still good people among them.
  • In a bizarre twist, relationships between members of the Volcano Manor are this in general. Yes they have no qualms about assassinations and their beliefs about letting assassins hunt each other is wrong, but they all genuinely believe they are fighting against something corrupt. They are also some of the most up-front people, being incredibly honest with you in a world where everyone else has secret machinations. They treat each other as part of a twisted family, but legitimately value those relationships.
• If the Tarnished helps Witch Hunter Jerren protect Rennala from Sorceress Sellen he seems genuinely touched and grateful. He starts to say that if fate allows it they'll meet again, but stops himself and declares they will meet again. He also ends up being one of the minority of quest characters who gets a happy ending with him leaving to parts unknown promising to fight with the Tarnished again in another Tourney.
  • The fight against Sellen as well, as the player actually succeeds in protecting someone. While Sellen doesn't actually kill Rennala if she gets past Jerren, it still feels like a Big Damn Heroes moment.
  • If the Tarnished chooses, they could side with Sellen as well. If she does, she calls the Tarnished her most beloved apprentice, and offers a place at the Academy, then decides against it, as the Tarnished's true destiny is to become Elden Lord. When that happens, Sellen will pledge the Academy as allies. And then, she wants to learn of the Elden Ring and its runes from you. You will becomes her teacher.
• In a rare unambiguously happy ending for NPC questlines: finishing Nepheli Loux and Kenneth Haight' questlines will lead to Kenneth seeing past his prejudice against Tarnished and recognize Nepheli as the new rightful and just ruler of Limgrave, and both will take residence on Stormveil Castle's throne room. Nepheli will thank the Tarnished and promise them that should they become Elden Lord, she'll be their ally and help lighten their load. Even Gostoc, the thieving, one-armed ex-servant of Godrick, will be more than happy with this arrangement (if only because having a nicer and more trusting master means he can more easily get away with his thieving). As an additional pleasant surprise, Nepheli keeps her promise - you can summon her against Godfrey, the penultimate boss of the game, and she proves to be a very useful tank.
• After making it to Altus Plateau the Dung Eater will appear at the Round Table. Roderika warns you about him and begs you to stay clear as he is dangerous. She also press that she is well aware that you're strong but she can't help but being worried to lose one of her friends.
• When you first arrive to the Haligtree, you're likely to spot several statues depicting the twins Malenia and Miquella hugging one another. While their relationships with their other siblings were a mess, these monuments show the twin prodigies' bond was an exceptionally strong one.
  • The Haligtree itself can be seen a big heartwarming moment. Miquella created a safe haven for those left behind by the Golden Order and the Erdtree, even the Albinaurics who have been consistenly oppressed by everyone, even Liurnia and the Carian Academy, despite the Carian family having trolls as knights. And who was the first left behind by the Order he knew? His twin sister. Miquella might see Malenia's plight in the albinaurics and misbegotten's.
  • Despite being publicly known as an ultra badass Master Swordsman and overall war goddess, Malenia the Severed's personal time seemed to be spent entirely with her brother and his subjects in the Haligtree, a land far away from war and strife. All her statues and monuments depict the two of them just holding each other or otherwise looking at peace. This caring part of Malenia's personality can't even be called Hidden Depths because it's one of the first things you learn about her.
• When you encounter Godfrey outside the Erdtree Sanctuary, he's quietly cradling Morgott's body as it slowly turns to dust, and lamenting how it's been a long time since he last saw his son. Even if nobody else loved Morgott, as seems to sadly be the case for every Omen, his own father did.
• Speaking of Morgott, the implied friendship between him and the twins, Miquella and Malenia. While we're not outright shown anything, the fact that they're the only people who he ever compliments, to how he let Finlay & Malenia pass through his territory, how they're the only demigods whose depictions are still left standing in Leyendell, and finally, the fact that he sends his own personal troop, The Nights Cavalry, to escort the hearse of Malenia's mentor, along with how they're able to access the Haligtree at all (doing so requires both halves of the Haligtree Medallion), indicates a genuine degree of respect and regard for each other, in spite of their differing visions for the Lands Between.

Manga

• In general, Aseo's character. While he may be a bit of a coward and not very bright, Aseo is a kind person who never hurts anyone if they don't attack him first, tries to resolve battles non-lethally, and always offers help and support when he meets someone who needs it. In a setting overall dominated by Black-and-Gray Morality, it's refreshing to have a protagonist who's defining trait above all else is that he's kind and compassionate.
• Despite Melina being overall dismissive and unimpressed by him, and an Adaptational Jerkass in general, it's obvious that Aseo cares a great deal about her and is happy to have her company any time they interact. During their first meeting, he nicknames her Meli-Meli, follows the guidance of grace largely because she wants him to, and during the fight with commander O'Neil he's clearly overjoyed and relieved when briefly mistaking Polyanna for her due to their similar clothing.
  Aseo: Melina!! Boy, am I glad to see you!
  • She does in her own way help him with some gestures, which he uses in combination with Thops' Barrier to get a hit in against Moongrum:
  'Aseo: Thops, my man- best ten runes I ever spent!
• When Aseo runs into Roderika, who's grieving the loss of her men and her own cowardice in not wanting to join them, he takes pity on her and gives her a sincere and genuine speech encouraging her to keep living and follow her purpose anyway. It doesn't help much, but it does show that Aseo is a sweetheart beneath his pathetic exterior.
  • Much later, Aseo returns and gives Roderika the keepsake from her companions, still carrying their spirits. Listening to them encourage her and tell her they believe in her, she starts crying, but smiles.
  • Roderika and Aseo's relationship in general is very sweet. While Aseo gets along fine with most of his fellow Tarnished, most of them are a bit too enthusiastic for his liking, or are overly critical of him. Roderika, along with Rogier, is one of the few characters that Aseo seems to really enjoy the company of, and they're both happy to see each other every time they meet.
• The manga features a surprisingly sweet moment when Aseo meets Margit. At first, he is ready to be killed by the resident Beef Gate. But Margit will have none of that; if he's going to fight Aseo, he wants it to be a proper match, so he gives Aseo a motivational speech and encourages him to become stronger so his warrior's blood won't be spilled so easily. He even gives some hints and tips on how to get stronger fast. Compared to how Margit was dead-set on "extinguish[ing] thy flame" in the game, this shows that he's at least willing to see what this Tarnished will bring to their battle...when he's ready.
• Aseo once again shows that he's a genuinely good guy when he goes to Caelid and Gowry asks him to help Millicent. While he initially only goes to get the gold needle because Gowry extorted him for the location of Castle Redmane, afterward Gowry asks him to bring the needle to Malenia, a huge detour, which Aseo is only happy to do, saying "anything to save a life."

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