History Characters / EldenRingOuterGods

* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** While Those Who Live in Death are never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the Outer God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are associated with the idea of death and are depicted with various forms of black flames. Furthermore, the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the Outer God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them. However, this is never fully explained.

* DarknessEqualsDeath: Its is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) and the Eclipse Shotel can inflict the crushing Deathblight.
* GodOfTheDead: Described as an God of death, its adepts practice necromancy, used ghostflame and sorcery linked to death and his vassals used to guide the souls of the dead before the era of the erdtree.

Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Under the promise of a future resurrection, a cult formed around these birds, composed of priests and necromancers devoted to protecting them as well as sacrificing "worthy deaths" to them. Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding and their cult was disbanded, but a few Deathbirds and Death Rite birds still remain in the Lands Between.\\

** While Those Who Live in Death are never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the Outer God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.

Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Outer God of the Twinbird. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.

** The Dark Moon's affiliation with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the fallingstar beasts and Astel paints it as horrifying by the Earth-like standards of the Lands Between, but it seems to view those creatures as little more than animals. Its glintstone grows and consumes surrounding land and life, and both the starborne beasts and the glintstones were apparently sent to the Lands Between ''by accident'', or at least not deliberately. The closest it seems to get to intentionally interacting with mortals is providing means to encourage self discovery and that only if said mortals contact it first.

** Similar to the Moons, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the Outer God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.

!!!'''Aliases:''' Ghostflame

* {{Unperson}}: The response by the Golden Order to the Frenzied Flame is similar to the one used on the Giant's Flame and the influence of their Fell God: All places in which it appears are quarantined and forgotten. But the Flame is unique among the Outer Gods in that it's not forgotten because it's just that ancient or obscure, like the Twinbird or the Formless Mother, no it's being lost to history is ''intentional''. People know what it is, and know to be afraid of it, but actual talk of the Flame by NPCs is almost nil save for it's very few adherents. For reference, Shabriri is considered the most reviled man in ''history'' simply for preaching about it. All indications are that people want to forget about it.

[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''OuterGods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDemigodsGodfreysLineage Godfrey's Lineage]] | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigodsRadagonsLineage Radagon's Lineage]] ([[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]])) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]

[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingOuterGods Outer Gods]] | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDemigodsGodfreysLineage Godfrey's Lineage]] | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigodsRadagonsLineage Radagon's Lineage]] ([[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]])) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]

[[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingTheTarnished The Tarnished]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMarika Marika]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingRoundtableHold Roundtable Hold]] | [[Characters/EldenRingSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]] ([[Characters/EldenRingRenownedAshes Renowned Ashes]]) | '''Outer Gods''' | [[Characters/EldenRingDemigods Demigods]] ([[Characters/EldenRingGodfrey Godfrey]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMorgott Morgott]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMohg Mohg]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn Radahn]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRykard Rykard]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRanniTheWitch Ranni the Witch]] | [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]]) | [[Characters/EldenRingEnemiesAndBosses Enemies and Bosses]] ([[Characters/EldenRingDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/EldenRingLiurniaOfTheLakes Liurnia of the Lakes]] | [[Characters/EldenRingRecurringEnemiesAndBosses Recurring Enemies and Bosses]] | [[Characters/EldenRingTarnishedInvadersAndTargets Tarnished Invaders and Targets]]) -]]]]]

* NothingButSkinAndBones: Deathbirds have a totally flayed skull and are so skinny that their ribs is visible, they are also treated in the game "undead" (aka. Those Who Live in Death). Extrangelly, the only depict of their progenitor, the Twinbird, show her like a more lifull bird. Add the fact of their crackerl skull, is posible that the currentform wasn't always like this and its more a result of their Outer God be ascend.

* The God of the Twinbird, an entity affiliated with ghostflame and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.

Technically speaking, the term "outer god" occurs only six times in the game's script[[note]]On the descriptions of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, Miquella's Needle, the Scorpion's Stinger, the Map of the Lake of Rot, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, and the Twinbird Kite Shield.[[/note]] and is a label only applied to four entities: the Formless Mother, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Death. The Fell God isn't straight-up called such, but it is called an "ancient god", a label also applied to outer gods. Other beings with similar attributes are included on this page for convenience.

** The Twinbird God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds have a more solid black fire with palish blue.

* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Twimbird God. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").

* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame for God of the Twibird, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame and the Formless Mother are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and God of the Twimbird is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.

* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders, -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of the God of the Twimbird -- the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest. She blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Twimbird God and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while God of the Twimbird is mostly black and grey. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.

* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy, or are given NO title whatsoever, such as the God of the Twimbird. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.

** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by the God of The Twimbird, whose followers seems to have been long-gone necromancers, making it difficult to determine if they were truly evil or not. The closest contemporary figure would be the heretical Necromancer Garris, a secret boss found on the Altus Plateau.

[[folder:The Greater Will]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elden_ring_burning_erdtree_after_what_to_do_guide.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Erdtree, seat of its power]]

The godly being which created individual life and the Elden Ring ages ago, when it sent a golden star bearing a vassal beast to the Lands Between. It's not confirmed to be an Outer God, but there are hints that it may be one. Originally, the dragons held the title of Elden Lord, but after a long war between them and Marika's Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden brokered peace between the two sides and they unified, and the title and the Ring passed to human gods. The beliefs of the Golden Order and dragons were found to be harmonious, as both "are imbued with gold." Thereafter the Greater Will would be primarily represented by the Golden Order, which "is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god." The Golden Order established the Erdtree to anchor its power in the Lands Between, and its laws governs both life and the very nature of reality itself in the Lands Between, with Marika as "a god in truth" who enforces it. After the Elden Ring was shattered by Marika herself, the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between as Marika's demigod offspring went to war to seize power in her absence, triggering the Shattering. Still, its envoys the Two Fingers remain, guiding the Tarnished in an attempt to end the Shattering, bring peace to the Lands Between, and become Elden Lord.\\

Although the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between in the wake of the Shattering, the Golden Order it created still governs the nature of life itself in the Lands Between, however imperfectly, and its adherents still maintain a wide level of control over the world. It undoubtedly has the most influence of any outer gods on the current state of the Lands Between, though the activities of the others may challenge its dominion.\\

The '''Age of Fracture''' ending (the default one if no Mending Runes or alternate ending routes are used) features the repairing of the Elden Ring more or less as it was before the Shattering, with the PlayerCharacter as a new Elden Lord. However, it remains ambiguous if the Greater Will approves of this result, as the Erdtree has grown dim and it's ambiguous how much it resembles the old Golden Order with the Elden Beast, the avatar of Order itself, slain.\\

Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees death restored to the Golden Order.\\
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For tropes specific to the Greater Will, see its entry on [[Characters/EldenRingMainCharacters the Main Characters page]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Moons]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Primeval Current of the Stars, the Full Moon, the Dark Moon, the Black Moon of Nokstella
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_298.jpg]]
Since time immemorial, comets and meteorites have fallen upon the Lands Between. Referred to as "falling stars" by the land's inhabitants, these starborne stones carried with them fearsome creatures, some of whom were hideous, rampaging beasts while others were intelligent humanoids who taught the mortals of the Lands Between hitherto unknown powers and sorceries.\\
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Some of these falling stars left behind glintstones that glowed with power. Studying the stones, ancient astrologers were able to develop glintstone sorceries, and used this power to study the force beyond the Lands Between from which the stars fell: the Primeval Current of the Stars. Associated with glintstones, falling stars, magic, and the night sky, it wasn't even initially understood to be a sentient force, and indeed its influence is very passive in the Lands Between.\\
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Studying the stars and its glintstones, the astrologers developed a sophisticated school of magic and founded both a kingdom in Liurnia and the academy of Raya Lucaria. They were known to be divided politically and societally, but that changed after the young Rennala encountered what she could only describe as a "Full Moon" in her study of the stars. Rennala was inspired and created the first known Full Moon Sorcery, with which she bewitched the academy and paved her way to become the headmistress of Raya Lucaria in addition to founding the house of Caria as royalty, essentially uniting Liurnia as disciples of the Moon.\\
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On behalf of Marika, Radagon led adherents of the Golden Order to wage war with disciples of the Moon at least twice; but a fateful meeting in the battlefield eventually led to marriage between Radagon and Rennala, which ultimately brought Liurnia into the fold of the Golden Order. The union between the great houses of the Moon and the Erdtree in the Church of Vows is emblematic of the relationship between the higher powers they serve; the Moon and the Stars are the only known cosmic influences whom the Greater Will definitively establishes an alliance with.\\
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During this period, Rennala and Radagon went to have three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni. The last of whom was led by Rennala to encounter another Moon of her own -- a cold, Dark Moon veiled in occult mystery. Ranni's secret mentor whom she encountered in the woods of Liurnia, a witch of snowy crone, taught Ranni to fear this Dark Moon.\\
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Up until this point in time, it was still not clear even to the adherents exactly what these Moons among the Stars truly were, until the sorcerers of the subterranean Eternal City Nokstella deciphered a "black moon" of their own was in reality "the guide of countless stars", leading them to believe in the coming of an age of stars. It's not made clear if the Moons are distinct from one another as separate beings who preside over the stars, or if they are manifestations of a singular sentient cosmic force, but Ranni and the Eternal Cities appear to believe in the same conception of "an age of the stars" and both sought out their own "Lord" who would lead them into this age.\\
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However, the house of the Moon's decline began after the fall of Godfrey, when Radagon divorced Rennala and became the second Elden Lord, putting the alliance with the house of Erdtree into question. It became even more unclear after the Eternal Cities invented things which warranted a punishment worthy of "high treason" by the Greater Will, resulting in their cities being sealed away to be forgotten by time. It is however noted the Carians did not become enemies with Marika's empire at this point in time, suggesting the Greater Will punished specifically the people who conspired against it.\\
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Later on, due to the declining mental state of Rennala, the Cuckoos of Raya Lucaria turned against the Carian royals, which served to diminish the influence of the stars in Lands Between with the weakening strength of their adherents. This influence diminished further still due to the actions of Radahn, who became known as the "Starscourge" for using gravity magic to arrest the stars for unknown reasons which had the side effect of stopping them from guiding the Carian royal family. Still, Ranni remains as one devoted disciple of the Dark Moon, throwing off her mantle of Empyrean and is dedicated to bringing about an age of stars in the Lands Between.\\
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Through Ranni, the Dark Moon and its Stars exert influence on the game's '''Age of the Stars''' ending.

* AlienInvasion: The Moons appear to cause these by accident. The extraterrestrial creatures such as Crystalians, Alabaster or Onyx Lords, and Fallingstar Beasts were all carried to the Lands Between by the primeval currents of stars.
* AlienKudzu: Natural Glintstones carried by its comets will crystallize anything in direct contact for long periods of time, including the lands around it, and will continue spreading unless properly contained with sorcery.
* AmbiguousSituation: It is impossible to determine if the various "Moons" discovered by Rennala, Ranni, and sorcerers of Nokstella are separate but similar beings or if they are manifestations of a singular outer god. Also, due to how these Moons remain hands-off in how they influence their followers, it is just as difficult to determine any intent, motive, or response toward any particular subject. In particular;
** As the guide of the stars, these Moons are responsible for the falling stars carrying the glintstones which crystalize anything in direct contact for too long unless properly processed. More importantly, the stones can be studied and used as a source of magic more accessible and safer than those of outer gods [[note]]demi-humans and wolves can use sorceries, but not incantations; while certain groups of incantations can be used by anyone, as proven by mutated beings of Rot and Frenzied Rats, they typically come at the price of irreversible and inevitable degrees of TheCorruption[[/note]]. It is unclear if this is indeed intentional on the part of the Moons, and if so, to what ends.
** It's unclear what the Moons feel in regards to the Carian family's alliance with the house of the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There is nothing to suggest Rennala was encouraged to carry it out, and given the modus operandi of these Moons, they might not care at all. Even when subsequent events put this alliance into question (Radagon divorcing Rennala, the Greater Will's punishment of the Eternal Cities), none of the Moons has any known response. However, while the Eternal City's specific crimes against the Greater Will are not stated, given they produced Mirrorhelms [[note]]which can shield its bearers from the Greater Will's influence[[/note]], the Fingerslayer Blade [[note]]which is said to harm the Greater Will, and can ''kill'' its Two Fingers heralds[[/note]], and Mimic Tears [[note]]attempts to create a mighty lifeform which can act as their Lord for an "age of stars"[[/note]], it can be inferred the Dark Moon has assisted the Eternal Cities in some manner. Still, whether or not it did so specifically because it wanted the Eternal Cities to commit treason against the Greater Will or it simply guiding its disciples regardless of what they wish to do with its guidance remains a mystery.
** For that matter, their attitude to power, as well the worship and reverence of its followers in general. The dwellers of Eternal Cities appear to believe that unlike other gods, the Moons don't/won't send them any emissary or the like who can fulfil the role of a Lord, and to that end they went as far as to attempt creating their own Lord to preside over an age of stars. It's known at least one Eternal City was destroyed by a falling star who carried Astel, and assuming it is not a coincidence like other cases of fallen stars, this might even suggest at least one of the Moons responded ''negatively'' toward the Eternal City's attempt to create a Lord to represent its power.
** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame who is known to have attempted to establish influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.
* AllPowerfulBystander: The Moons appear to have no designs on the Lands Between with all elements of its presence in the world appearing accidental and its "followers" being more akin to scientific scholars pursuing research of their own volition. Its lack of any intention to interfere with the world appears to be exactly why [[ScrewDestiny Ranni]] champions it.
* TheCorruption: The fallen stars slowly turn areas in its vicinity and those in direct contact into glintstone, and needless to say this is eventually fatal. Modern sorcerers have ''mostly'' mitigated these effects, but the reckless Primeval Sorcerers and the hapless miners the academy employs are doomed to turn into stone from so much unsafe close contact. There is a reason they built Raya Lucaria as far off the ground as they possibly could.
* CosmicMotifs: They are quite literally referred as Moons of different motifs -- Full Moon, Black Moon or Dark Moon. However, an arguably even more prominent motif is the stars -- to be precise, the cosmic debris called "falling stars" and "shooting stars" which keep falling on the Lands Between and fill up the cosmos, as it was through a falling star the ancient humans of Lands Between discovered the power of Sorcery, and it was through Sorcery the ancient scholars studied the stars, leading them to encounter the "Moons". A lesser, but still notable motif is the [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson frost]] motifs which make up a number of inspired Sorceries, though this might be because sorcerers of Lands Between tend to [[SpaceIsAnOcean visualize space and cosmos as an ocean of primeval currents]], much like real life ancient cultures.
* ColorCodedWizardry: Glintstone sorcery and gravity magic both derive from the Stars guided by the Moons, and they are a vivid, eye-catching blue and purple, respectively, to indicate their extraterrestrial origins.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Maybe. The Moons are naturally associated with the night and darkness, and while BlueAndOrangeMorality is as at play as for any of the outer gods, neither seeks the destruction, dominion, or enslavement of mankind. The threats of their stars -- namely the spread of glintstone as AlienKudzu and the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s which some of their stars carry -- appear to be accidental, and tempered by the fact glintstone sorceries genuinely seem useful, with sorcery even being the key to contain the spread of glintstones. Unlike the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, Melina has no qualms with the player eschewing the Golden Order to side with Ranni, showing that she at least considers the Dark Moon to be better than the Frenzied Flame and an acceptable means of ending the Shattering, although given what [[OmnicidalManiac those]] [[CrapsackWorld entail]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: All the Outer Gods qualify; but these Moons stand out among them because they don't seem to be doing so for the sake of spreading influence over the Lands Between, instead just providing guidance and mentorship to a select few sorcerers who found ''them'' instead. This might be why the Greater Will tolerates their influence, unlike almost every other outer god. Of course, despite the lack of interest, at least the Dark Moon still ends up being put in power over the Lands Between thanks to Ranni in the Age of the Stars ending.
* FantasyAliens: The Moons themselves qualify, explicitly living in outer space beyond the Lands Between, and are the origin and patron of lesser examples like the Star Spawn.
* FantasyCounterpartMyth: Of Hecate, Greek goddess of the Moon, knowledge, magic and sorcery amongst other things. Not only do the Moons have dominion over all of those concepts, they're both worshipped by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carians Carians]].
* TheGhost: Possibly the only Outer God to [[SubvertedTrope subvert this]]. Multiple times in the game it's possible to see a dark, abnormally large moon in the sky, especially in zones connected to sorcery and the Dark Moon like Liurnia. While a player may at first just brush it off as a fantasy case of AlienSky, it's highly implied that is the [[ThatsNoMoon body of the Outer God itself]].
* GodOfChaos: The Moons seem best described as embodiments of the disruption of natural order. Via glintstone sorcery, its adherents (such as [[TheArchmage Ranni]] and the [[MadScientist Nox Monks]]) are granted the power to better understand and shape the world to their will, all developing extremely different schools of sorcery aligned with their unique viewpoints. While the Star Spawn, their progeny, have no fixed shape and are able to shift into an [[HumanAlien incredibly wide]] [[AnimalisticAbomination variety]] [[StarfishAliens of forms]] depending on their surroundings. However, this variant of chaos isn't malevolent like the Frenzied Flame or Scarlet Rot; instead this chaos is liberating, freeing mortals from the shackles of destiny.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Compared to the other Outer Gods, channeling the Dark Moon's power appears to be far less damaging to the human mind, with entire civilisations (such as the kingdom of Caria and the Nox Monks) having thrived using the Glintstone Sorceries Its influence makes possible. This, however, does ''not'' make It harmless: seemingly every sorcerer who attempts to perceive Its true nature (such as Sellen) [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow is ruined in mind and body]], and while It doesn't appear to cause the [[FantasyAliens Starspawn]] (many of which are dangerous wild animals of cataclysmic power) to fall into the Lands Between intentionally, It doesn't appear to do anything to ''stop'' the phenomenon.
* {{Lunacy}}: Naturally, being literally Moons. The Carians referred to the Full Moon's patronage as "guiding moonlight".
* MixAndMatchCritters: Tying into their nature as embodiments of chaos, most creatures under the influence of stars are often either born as or eventually mutate into bizarre creatures with physiology combining traits from rock formations and a wide variety of animals, the oldest and most powerful of which can verge into EldritchAbomination. This includes the Fallingstar Beasts (which look like bulls with pincers that are made from rock) and the ancient Sorcerers Azur and Lusat (who have heads made of solid crystal).
* PersonalityPowers: Disciples of the Stars and the Moons which guide them learn not a singular type of sorcery, but instead use the guidances to develop spells tailored to their own mindsets and prejudices.
* PiecesOfGod: The Black Moon appears to have been destroyed and its fragments are used to form the Memory Stones.
* RecurringElement: Lunar magic is a recurring theme in Creator/FromSoftware's games, especially in the form of the Moonlight Greatsword. The Moons are the origin of both lunar magic and the greatsword in ''Elden Ring'', approaching MythologyGag levels thanks to the phrase "guiding moonlight", which is lifted straight from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
* ScrewDestiny: Unlike other Outer Gods that influence the world in direct ways (The Greater Will's Erdtree and Elden Lords, the Scarlet Rot's visceral corruption, the insanity brought on by the Frenzied Flame, and the manifestion of the Fell Gods of the torso of giants), the Moons never truly forces beings into service, instead [[InMysteriousWays guiding those who are able to understand it]] to reach self-actualization and defy the fate of the gods. They seems to be indifferent to reverence, only seeking to inspire and liberate.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Scarlet Rot]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lake_of_rot_elden_ring_featured_image_v2_1024x576.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Lake of Rot, its prison]]
The Scarlet Rot is a much-feared blight in the Lands Between. A festering plague that consumes anything it touches, the Rot is capable of killing even the unkillable; dragons, demigods, and the Tarnished are not immune. Those whose bodies are eaten away by its touch also lose their minds, becoming creatures of rot. Some are twisted into unspeakable forms, or reborn as monstrous kin who worship sickness itself, their very minds tainted by the disease. The Scarlet Rot consumes both the lands itself and even taints the sky above, making the air burn a sickly red. The only thing known to beat it back is judicious application of fire.\\
\\
In truth, the Scarlet Rot is more than a mere disease. An ancient legend tells of a blue fairy that bestowed upon a blind swordsman a flowing sword. Using this blade, the hero sealed away an ancient god -- one that was Rot itself. There is truth to the legend, for hidden in the warren of tunnels that snake under the Lands Between lies the Lake of Rot -- a festering pocket of disease and rot that corrupts anything that sets foot in it. The outer god of Scarlet Rot, or possibly its proxy or champion, still lurks within it. The deity is associated with disease, decay, flowers, transformation, rebirth, and -- of course -- the color scarlet.\\
\\
Though sealed in the Lake, the god that is Scarlet Rot is far from contained. Pockets of corruption are slowly leaking from its prison to manifest as diseased swamps and mires in the Lands Between, and it has another, more active means of influence. The demigoddess Malenia, one of the twin offspring of Queen Marika and Radagon, was "blessed" in the womb by the outer god, being born with the disease and able to channel its power. Fighting its influence for most of her life, Malenia was nevertheless slowly corrupted, parts of her body rotting away. In the battle against her stepsibling Radahn, Malenia embraced the power of Rot inside of her and "bloomed", unleashing the power of Scarlet Rot against Radahn and his armies. Infecting and devastating her brother, Malenia's rot has spread from Radahn to blight the rest of Caelid, turning the region into a twisted, grotesque landscape of crimson, its spread only marginally held back by Radahn's forces and their policy to KillItWithFire.\\
\\
Malenia is worshipped by the Kindred of Rot, twisted creatures born of the disease who fight Radahn's forces for control of Caelid; Malenia's offspring, including Millicent, are likewise worshipped, due to being born with their mother's infection. Despite her willingness to use the Rot against Radahn, Malenia continues trying to defy the will of the god that infected her. The Kindred of Rot have plans to force either Malenia or Millicent to embrace their destiny and become vessels of Rot, and it is said that if Malenia "blooms" three times, she will ascend to become a true deity -- a goddess of rot.
----

* AmbiguousSituation: Whether or not Golden Order Fundamentalism is ''really'' incapable of curing the Rot. Miquella, once an undisputed master of Fundamentalism, abandoned it after coming to believe it couldn't cure his sister's affliction. Yet one of Fundamentalism's most advanced spells, Law of Regression, is capable of curing ''all'' ailments, Scarlet Rot included. It's ambiguous if this is a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, or if the spell simply isn't strong enough to purge the Rot from Malenia, whose status as the God's primary vessel likely renders her case of the Rot far harder to cure than other infectees. Its even possible the Greater Will might have ''actively prevented'' Miquella from using its power to cure Malenia, so as to not risk making an enemy of one of the most dangerous of the Outer Gods.
** Alternatively, the Law of Regression, as the name implies, returns things to their 'natural', original state, which ''usually'' means curing all diseases -- but [[LogicalWeakness Malenia was infected by Rot in the womb]], and was never healthy to begin with. If anything, the Law of Regression might ''re-inflict'' the Scarlet Rot back upon her if it were somehow cured.

!!!'''Aliases:''' The Mother of Truth, The Blood Star

[[folder:The God of the Twinbird]]

[[caption-width-right:350:A shield depicting the Twimbird]]

This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, large slender bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\

After completing the questline of Fia, Deathbed Companion, the player can obtain the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, which ensures that undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life. The lack of solid information makes it quite challenging to determine whether this ending was either entirely orchestrated by God of the Twinbird, was only marginally involved in it, or had nothing to do with it at all.

** Though Those Who Live in Death have never been explicitly stated to be the work of any entity other that the Prince of Death, they possess a distinguished amount of connections to the God of the Twinbird. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Godwyn's mutated corpse, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Eclipse Shotel associated with the them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death and Deathbirds themselves are susceptible to Litany of Proper Death and Order's Blade, two incantations designed to kill Those Who Live In Death. Whether this is evidence that the two groups come from the same source or are just two different types of undead is unknown.
** To Destined Death. Both are depicted with various black flames and the Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.

** Similar to the Moon, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the God of the Twinbird is involved in the current affairs of the Lands Between. The Deathbirds are optional bosses who don't seem too concerned with spread influence or recruiting Tarnisheds to a cause. Fia appears to come from a land where necromancy is considered sacred, and her goal of bringing in an age of duskborn could easily be a mission entrusted by the Outer God of Death to restore its power, but the fact that she mainly claims her protection comes from the Prince of Death and never mentions any outer gods makes this very ambiguous.
** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some Deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.

* {{Necromancy}}: The originator of many Death Sorceries capable of summoning vengeful spirits covered in black feathers and it signature ghostflame. The sage Garris, who has studied and rediscovered these spells, even has the title of Necromancer.

* TechnicolorFire: Ghostflame is a blue-colored fire that comes from burning bones and feels cold to the touch.

[[folder:The One-Eyed God]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' the Fell God, the Flame of Ruin, Giantsflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_808.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Its eye manifested on the last Fire Giant]]

Unshackled fire is an affront the Eternal Queen cannot abide. When Marika first established her kingdom in the Lands Between, a neighboring civilization existed -- one of giants who lived in and worked with fire. To strengthen the hold of the Golden Order in the Lands Between, Marika went to war with the fire-wielding giants. The conflict was long and calamitous, with images and memories of the giants used as icons of fear and terror even now, but ultimately Marika prevailed: the giants were wiped out.\\

At the heart of the giants' civilization was a forge of ever-burning flame that granted their civilization life and power. Unable to put out this unquenchable flame even with the full power of the Elden Ring, Marika cursed the last surviving Fire Giant to immortality, binding him to both tend and guard the flame forevermore, locking it out of reach.\\

In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of a god that empowered the giants' civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, as proven by the one-eyed faces on their torsos. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\

Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of Marika's Golden Order.\\

Though it does not directly influence any endings, the flame of the fell god is what allows the [[PlayerCharacter Tarnished]] to ascend the Erdtree and claim the Elden Ring in the first place.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: The One-Eyed God is the only Outer God outright called evil by the game's lore and its other moniker as 'The Fell God' quite literally means "The Cruel/Terrible God", but how much that is distorted through the lenses of the Golden Order that defeated it is unclear. One one hand, the Fire Giants were very territorial beings who frequently got into fierce conflicts with the other inhabitants of the Mountaintops such as the frost dragons or the people of Zamor, and that might have been influenced by their god - on the other hand, its only apperent actions in-game has it respond to the desperate cries and sacrifice of the last Fire Giant to empower it against the player, which would ironically make the One-Eyed God the most ''actively protective'' Outer God of them all. On top of that, gaining the power of the One-Eyed God is ''vital'' for the Tarnished to finish their journey, and it seems more than happy to respond to the sacrifice of the appropriate 'kindling' even after you just finished killing its last follower.
* AmbiguousSituation: When the Fire Giant offers up his leg and manifests a cyclopean face on his chest similar to depictions of the fell god, gaining fire magic in the process, what is actually happening? Did the fell god simply grant the Giant some of its favor? Is the Giant channelling or manifesting the power of the god? Is the god ''possessing'' the Giant? Is this related to the depictions of the god living "within" the giants? The possibilities are tantalizing, but none are ever made concrete. Alexander calls the giant "practically a god" so he, at least, thinks it was a godly power.
* {{Cyclops}}: Usually portrayed as this, giving rise to its nickname the "One-Eyed God". The Fire Giant manifests a similar face on his chest after he seemingly invokes the fell god.
* EquivalentExchange: While very little is known about the fell god, it appears the outer god operates on this. Many of its Incantations burn the user in exchange for beneficial effects or blessings, Melina must sacrifice her body and life to the Forge of the Giants to invoke sufficient power for burning the Erdtree with its flames, and the Fire Giant only begins spewing flames in earnest after he rips his left leg off, burns it, and raises it to the heavens as if in offering -- before the fell god answers by opening the eye and the mouth on the Giant's body, becoming the "One-Eyed God" previously alluded to by a few enemies and items.
* EvilIsBurningHot: While it's less ObviouslyEvil than other fire-associated entities like the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, the God-Devouring Serpent, and so on, it's an enemy of the Greater Will, and Marika called it an enemy of life in general. Considering how the Lands Between have flourished under the Erdtree since the war against the giants, the balance of evidence suggests that she was right.
* {{Expy}}: Of Balor, ruler of the malevolent Fomorians from [[Characters/CelticMythology Irish mythology]], who is likewise a giant possessing [[{{Cyclops}} a single eye]] which wreaks destruction when opened. Balor is also considered the personification of the [[EvilIsBurningHot scorching sun]], just as the fell god is associated with flame, making the similarities between the two all the stronger.
* HiveMind: An ImpliedTrope. The giants were both the servants/slaves to the fell god yet it also inhabitated them, and it seems to either grant the Fire Giant its power or outright take control of him during his battle's second phase, implying that the giants ''are'' the fell god to an extent. This would certainly explain why its power broke when they were nearly all wiped out.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe.]] Despite its power (and/or itself, depending on if the flame and the Fell God are one and the same) being confined inside the Forge of the Giants and all but one of its original worshippers were completely wiped out, the Fell God's influence is still somewhat felt on the realm. The Fire Monks who were supposed to be its jailers and observers started to worship it instead, and began spreading outside of the Mountaintops into the rest of the Lands Between; though it's unknown if this is because they were [[MoreThanMindControl influenced]] by the flames, or if they started to willingly worship it.
* NotQuiteDead: The One-Eyed Shield description states the deity once worshipped by Fire Giants is believed to be slain by Marika during the ancient wars. While it is possible Marika had killed a manifestation or proxy of the fell god, the fire in the Forge of the Giants said to contain "the presence" of the fell god remains ablaze and undying despite her efforts, meaning the god is very much alive and present. The Fire Monks, Adan, and the last Fire Giant encountered by the Tarnished can still call forth its flames, and both the Giant as well as Melina can sacrifice body parts to invoke its presence to accomplish tasks, with the Giant manifesting a face in its chest that looks nearly identical to ancient depictions of the fell god.
* PlayingWithFire: The fell god is very heavily associated with fire, and indeed may even ''be'' the ever-burning flame in the Forge of the Giants, and grants fiery incantations to its followers -- [[EquivalentExchange at a price]].
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Zigzagged. The Fire Giants were described as the fell god's slaves, yet they also benefitted from its patronage and fought on its behalf. The fell god was ''also'' described as being "within" the Fire Giants, and they may have been "slaves" in the extent that they were lesser members of a HiveMind ruled by the god.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The fell god has the smallest influence on the world of ''Elden Ring'' compared to any of the outer gods save the dragon god, yet its ability to burn the Erdtree is what allows the finale to happen at all.
* TheReveal: An attentive player will piece together that the fell god and the One-Eyed God are the same entity. During the battle against the Fire Giant, the second phase leads to [[WhamShot a cyclopean face manifesting on the Giant's chest]] that is ''identical'' to depictions of the fell god, leading to the reveal in question: the god is still here, and is still capable of interceding in the world..
* VillainOfAnotherStory: The One-Eyed God led the Fire Giants, who themselves were antagonistic to a number of forces, such as the dragons living in the mountains whom they hunted and the people of Zamor who were their ArchEnemy, and finally to Marika's empire. The defeat of the Fire Giants and the One-Eyed God (implied to have culminated in an actual direct fight between Marika and a manifestation of the god itself) was one of the key victories that allowed the Golden Order to form and take control of the entire Lands Between.
* WhamShot: When the Fire Giant manifests a face on his chest identical to depictions of the One-Eyed God.

** The Twinbird God is associated with black, grey and blue. Ghostflame is a pale grayish-white flame while some spells conjure by the Death Rite Birds is more solid black fire with palish blue.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].

This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, Large, slender, bird-like creatures that only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\

** Other than being the progenitor of an entire species, there is no other information about the twinbird herself. It is unknown if the name "twinbird" indicates that they are two separate bird-like entities that mate and create other entities or if she is a single two-headed entity capable of [[TrulySingleParent reproducing on her own]]. The fact that there is no record of her death and that there are still some deathbirds around suggests that she is probably hiding from the Golden Order. However, there is also no evidence that she is involved in any current conflict, so it is also possible that she has abandoned the Lands Between altogether.

This is by far the most enigmatic of all the Outer Gods matched only by the Moons, with items that neglect giving it a unique recognizable title (like the Formless Mother or the Frenzied Flame) and suggesting that it has long been forgotten and, like the Greater Will, has probably abandoned the Lands Between. There are no [=NPCs=] in the game directly related to this Outer God, only a few show an [[AmbiguouslyRelated ambiguous relationship]] with it, but they don't speak of it directly. Most actual encounters with it would be in the form of boss fights scattered throughout the map with either Deathbirds, who only appear at night, Death Rites Birds, a [[EliteMooks stronger version]] with enormous black spectral wings and capable of casting Death Sorceries, or with Necromancer Garris, a heretical sage who has taken to studying the old tales of death hexes and rediscovered many of them.\\

** To Destined Death. The Deathroots, the source which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise, carries part of the Rune of Death. Since Those Who Live in Death are strongly connected to the God of the Twinbird, this would also link Destined Death to all of them, however, this is never explained.

* Death, an entity affiliated with ghostflame, blackflame, and undeath who sent a "twinbird" as its envoy in ages past.

* AboveTheGods: While they are not invincible or all-powerful (one of them was [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome defeated by a mortal]]), the game makes it clear their strength is far above the demigods and supposed "one true god" Marika (who is herself empowered by a similar being). The Scarlet Rot can ascend an [[ChosenOne Empyrean]] to the rank of God in Truth while imprisoned and the Formless Mother and Death can do this too. And the Frenzied Flame is even more powerful. [[spoiler:Its unleashed strength can [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] and split the Erdtree]]. This provides a solid link to them, the Greater Will and the [[spoiler:Dark Moon]] the only other beings confirmed to have such power.

** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, beyond the One Great, it's also ambiguous whether there truly is a singular being affiliated with death or whether separate-but-similar entities are behind the likes of the Deathbirds, the blackflame, and Those Who Live in Death. Likewise, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.

** Death has the most obscure motivations despite its prominence, as it has had multiple factions of followers throughout history. The Deathbirds appear to hold "death" as sacred, seeing as they devote their lifetime to burn the remains of the dead and rake their ashes, but the birds were also known to make pacts with priests who swore to become their guardians in exchange for a "distant resurrection", which mean they are not particularly against resurrections. The Godskin Apostles are known to hunt gods and their kin (Erdtree champions in particular), to the point of flaying their flesh and stealing their Incantations as trophies, but their attitude toward other powers and races in the Lands Between is largely unknown.

** In ancient times, Destined Death granted the Gloam-Eyed Queen a power sharing its epithet, though it is unclear if the Queen began hunting for the immortal gods and their kin from her own prerogative or the outer god's. In the modern day, it seems to have seized the Rune of Death used to kill Godwyn to transform him into the Prince of Death, making him another champion despite the fact that he is, well, ''dead.''

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Great Ones]]. The Great Ones were compelled to interfere with mankind by the surprisingly sympathetic desire of "adopting" them to replace the children they could never have naturally, and much of Yharnam's descent into madness was the result of them [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow horribly underestimating how incapable mankind was of grasping their true nature]]. Despite [[SentientCosmicForce in many ways]] being even more eldritch and unfathomable than the Great Ones, the Outer Gods appear to be be entities that embody concepts that manifest in the human mind (I.E. the Greater Will representing order, the Frenzied Flame championing chaos) or natural concepts humans can recognize (Death, disease, blood, and flame) and thus have a far easier time communicating with and convincing humans to serve them, but do so [[JerkassGods far more callously]].

* TheCorruption: At least four of the outer gods (the Dark Moon, the Scarlet Rot, the Frenzied Flame, and Death) have their essences manifest as forces which can corrupt Lands Between and its inhabitants to varying degrees. See their individual folders for more.

** Death is associated with black, white, yellow and red. The seeming purest form of Death, wielded through the fragments of the Rune of Death in the blades of Maliketh and the Black Knife Assassins, displays red surrounded by black, as does the Rune of Death itself when unbound from Maliketh. The Black Flame incantations and Ghostflame sorceries derived from it conjure black fire with ashen grey. White is the color used in its Incantations and Sorceries and the outfits of the [[SerialKiller Godskin Cult]]. Finally, Deathblight is a sickly yellow shade fitting for its association with [[spoiler:Godwyn the Golden.]]

** The Deathbirds are mothered by a "twinbird" envoy of an outer god associated with death. They were once prominent prior to the Age of the Erdtree, comparable to {{psychopomp}}s in role and described as keepers of "ghostflames" which burn the remains of the dead into ashes. They are considered malevolent deities by the Golden Order, which contributed to their fading into obscurity. This being is heavily implied to be the same entity who gave the Gloam-Eyed Queen and the Godskin their black flame of Death, given the Ghostflame Sorcery which Death Rite Birds use, and Fia's Mist developed from Godwyn's power (which in turn was a stolen portion of Destined Death Maliketh took from the Godskin) are considered the same category of Sorcery, with both receiving buffs by Prince of Death's Staff (also derived from Godwyn). Its motivations are by and large a mystery, because the Deathbirds have largely gone into hiding, the Godskin cult might not necessarily represent the outer god's motives as much as they do their Queen's, and the spread of Deeproot being possibly accidental as it spreads only through Godwyn's body which was buried under the Erdtree, while Ranni's body has no such mutation.

** Destined Death's blackflame can kill the unkillable, inspiring enormous terror. Even when Maliketh took this power from the Gloam-Eyed Queen, he was held over Marika's children as a threat, gaining the moniker "Death of the Demigods".

* EldritchAbomination: All of them. The Greater Will is never referred to as having a body and may, as it is called, be nothing ''but'' will; the Dark Moon lives in outer space and creates AlienKudzu and lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s by ''existing''; the Scarlet Rot manifests as a living, sentient disease that corrupts everything it touches; the Frenzied Flame is an intangible force of fire that bestows both knowledge and madness upon its followers, and wishes to return the world to what is effectively primordial soup; the Formless Mother has no physical form, yet the incantation Bloodboon states that it works through carving your hand ''inside her body'' and splattering her blood -- which combusts into flames -- to your enemies; Death is an omnipresent force of death which can manifest as both black fire as well as corrupted roots that cause the dead to rise; the fell god of the giants seemingly inhabited both the giants themselves as well as their forge, and may actually ''be'' fire in the form of a HiveMind.

* EvilIsSterile: The four beings actually confirmed as outer gods are heavily linked to the aspects of death: blood loss for the Formless Mother, madness for the Frenzied Flame (who also has the main goal of [[OmnicidalManiac killing everybody]] and preventing all future births), decay for the Scarlet Rot, and mortality for Death. This serves to directly contrast them to the Greater Will, which is a ''de facto'' FertilityGod whose influence (gold) is associated with life and immortality, fitting its alchemical motif. This gets referenced in many item descriptions (e.g. Beast Blood: "fresh beast blood, glinting with gold... this glimmering blood never rots or decays").

* EvilLivingFlames: The outer/ancient gods generally manifest through magical flames, contrasting them with the Greater Will and its manifestation through trees. These are "regular" flame for the Fell God, ghostflame and possibly blackflame for Death, bloodflame for the Formless Mother, and frenzyflame for the Frenzied Flame. The only exception, for unknown reasons, is the Scarlet Rot, which is instead repulsed by fire.
* FantasyAliens: The Greater Will and Dark Moon play this straight, being associated with the cosmos, and send their servants to the Lands Between via shooting stars and cosmic rays, but they aren't directly referred as outer gods. Ironically, many of them are associated with the underground: the Lake of Rot, the Frenzied Flame, the Formless Mother, and the Prince of Death (though the [[ArtifactOfDoom Rune of Death]] itself is in the sky) are all found underground [[note]]The underground Lake of Rot in particular is the resting place of the god of Rot and remnant of a civilization that worshipped Rot, while Mohg found the Formless Mother "deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire" and remained devoted to her because of "his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth"[[/note]], and some of their manifestations were explicitly born there [[note]]the Frenzied Flame sprouted forth into the world when the "seeds" spread by the Three Fingers received the Great Caravan's despair as they were BuriedAlive underneath Leyndell, while the Prince of Death was created when the Cursemark of Death mutated Godwyn's buried corpse[[/note]]. However, it's unclear if they started there or just moved there later. The Rot was imprisoned there long ago, and Death is heavily associated with the sky through its Deathbirds. The [[AllInTheManual official strategy guide]] implies they're all from outer space.
* TheGhost: While their influence is certainly felt, none of these entities manifest in the Lands Between. {{Justified}} since as eldritch entities beyond space and time, they might not have a true form and any manifestation they do have can be considered [[FightingAShadow temporary vessels]]. Some of them do downplay this however:

** Destined Death/the Rune of Death is the only one to subvert this, as it appears physically after beating Maliketh. However, an outer god is said to have sent the Twinbird as its envoy, and is heavily implied to have bestowed the essence Destined Death to the Gloam-Eyed Queen so she and her Godskin cult could slay gods -- proxies of other outer gods -- it doesn't appear just like the rest. Given how much Those Who Live in Death revere Godwyn after his body became the source of Deeproot, it is also possible the Prince of Death is considered its modern proxy.

* GodOfEvil: While there are any number of contenders -- such as the terrifying and corruptive Scarlet Rot, the chaotic and nihilistic Frenzied Flame, and the mysterious and terrifying presence of Death, the Formless Mother is probably the Outer God that fits the mould closest -- she blessed [[SatanicArchetype Mohg]] with power and presence in return for embracing the defilement and corruption inherent to his nature as an Omen, and saw to it that he created a cult devoted to sacrificing the blood of the innocent in both their names. The values espoused by the being are strange like those of all the outer gods, but are sinister in comparison, seeming to relish violence, slaughter, and wounds, even on her own formless "body", and the main cultists we see in the game -- Mohg and Varre -- have a disturbing obsession with a [[{{Yandere}} violent, possessive "love."]] In contrast to the followers we encounter that revere the Frenzied Flame, Death and the Scarlet Rot, they instead place power, prestige, and dynasty on a pedestal, whereas Hyetta, Fia, and Gowry at least offer strange and at times compelling perspectives on the benevolence of the force they worship. While other gods may have more destructive and transformative designs for the Lands Between, it's clear that among them, the Formless Mother and her servants have the most ''malevolent.''
* GodOfFire: The fell god of the Fire Giants and the Frenzied Flame manifest their essence as flames. Death and the Formless Mother might also count, as the former's essence can be harnessed into both blackflame and ghostflames while the latter's blood literally combusts into flames when conjured with its incantations. Not coincidentally, [[ElementalRivalry all of them are at odds with the Greater Will]], a deity heavily associated with ''trees.''
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Scarlet Rot, Frenzied Flame, Formless Mother, and Fell God are all associated with various shades of red, while Death is black. This contrasts the Greater Will's prominent gold and the Dark Moon's blue.

* NoNameGiven: None of the Outer Gods' proper names are revealed, instead they're called by either titles that their servants made up, such as the Formless Mother, or by what they represent, such as the Scarlet Rot or Flame of Frenzy. Of course, these being eldritch entities beyond mortal comprehension, it's likely they ''don't have'' names.

* RealityWarper: All known outer gods can alter fate or causality to their will, and their physical manifestations can twist the laws of physics passively or actively: the Glintstones are the basis of Sorcery, and outer gods often exert their presence or essence as different schools of Incantations. Given the Dark Moon can share its guidance even to dwellers of Eternal Cities (which are trapped underground and thus unable to see the stars), and the Formless Mother's followers can reach its formless veins ''anywhere in the world'', it's clear even ''space and time'' don't restrict their influence either. However, they do seem to have limits:

** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] by Death, whose followers go out of their way to kill and murder individuals like D who hunt them down, but who ultimately acted second, and who otherwise do not directly bring harm to the Lands Between beyond the natural consequence of enabling a bunch of zombies. Played straight by the Godskin Apostles, who hunt down lesser demigods and flay them before wearing their skins.

Three more endings, the '''Blessing of Despair''', '''Age of Order''' and '''Age of Duskborn''' endings, form a new type of Order. The Blessing of Despair sees the Golden Order corrupted by Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, the Age of Order modifies the nature of the world to make it far harder for the Greater Will's vassals to modify its laws, and the Age of Duskborn sees Destined Death usurp the Golden Order for its own purposes.\\

** Related to the above, given unlike the Frenzied Flame and Destined Death who each separately had known attempts of establishing influence and would succeed in doing so [[MultipleEndings depending on the player's choices]], neither of the Moons even appear to ''want'' seizing power, with most of the initiative being taken by Ranni on behalf of the Dark Moon. In the end, it's ambiguous whether its goals align with Ranni's, or whether it will even tolerate her scheming once she puts it in power.

[[folder:Destined Death]]
!!!'''Aliases:''' The Rune of Death, The Black Flame, Deathroot, Ghostflame
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5348958349582222_7.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Rune of Death, bound]]
Long before the Shattering, a "twinbird" descended on the Lands Between as an envoy of an outer god of death. Mothering the Deathbirds, she and her offspring served as {{Psychopomp}}s, leading spirits into the afterlife and commanding wandering spirits with the power of "ghostflame". Hated and feared by adherents of the Golden Order, the twinbird and her offspring were driven into hiding, but a few Deathbirds still remain in the Lands Between.\\

Once an Empyrean, the Gloam-Eyed Queen forsook the Greater Will in a past age. Obtaining power from an unknown entity of tremendous power, she acquired the blackflame known as "Destined Death", said to be able to kill even the unkillable demigods. Marika's half-brother, the great beast Maliketh, defeated the Gloam-Eyed Queen and seized the power of Destined Death for himself, using it to scare his nieces and nephews into compliance with Marika's decrees. Still, scattered adherents of the Gloam-Eyed Queen remain. The Blackflame Monks and Godskin Apostles are still able to use the power of blackflame to spread death and chaos across the Lands Between.\\

When Godwyn the Golden, firstborn of Marika, was killed in the Night of the Black Knives, some of the Rune of Death that killed him became bound in his corpse. Twisting into the Prince of Death, Godwyn's power spreads through the Lands Between as deathroot, creating a ZombieApocalypse in the form of Those Who Live in Death, a plague of corpses that will not stay in the earth. Empowered by some deathly force beyond the ken of the Golden Order, the Prince of Death has gained disciples who further the power of Those Who Live in Death.\\
\\
Though each of these could be disparate manifestations of separate death-based outer gods, they are heavily implied to be the work of one singular entity -- a being with dominion over death, black fire, and the undead. The power of the Prince of Death's Staff, derived from the Destined Death that Maliketh seized from the Gloam-Eyed Queen, empowers both the ghostflame and Death sorceries of the Deathbirds; in addition, the Mausoleum Knights who protect the bodies of slain demigods use the wings and eclipse symbols of Deathbirds, and the Eclipse Shotel associated with them can inflict Deathblight, an affliction born from the Prince of Death. All of these indicate they are most likely separate manifestations of the same power, who have intervened in the Lands Between ever since the arrival of the twinbird. Destined Death's current goals seem tied in with Those Who Live in Death: it, or at least its adherents seem to view death as sacred, and undeath as a natural part of the life cycle. They despise the adherents of the Golden Order for hunting them.\\
\\
Completing the questline of one of its disciples, Fia, allows the power of Destined Death to suffuse the Golden Order in the '''Age of the Duskborn''' ending, ensuring undeath becomes a natural and accepted part of the cycle of life.

* AlliterativeName: One of their names is '''D'''estined '''D'''eath.

** There appears to be some unspecified connection between fire and Destined Death. The black flame of the Godskin, created by the Gloam-Eyed Queen, is capable of killing gods who are otherwise untouchable. The bodies of those killed by Destined Death itself are burnt with black flame, as shown with Iji's body during Ranni's questline (killed by Black Knife assassins) and Ranni's own burnt flesh. Ghostflame is created when the bones of the dead are burnt. Lastly, the fire of the Giants, while incredibly powerful, is unable to actually burn the Erdtree without Destined Death being released as well. All of this indicates that flame and death are closely connected.
** There is also an unspecified connection between Destined Death and Melina. At some point Melina was given a prophecy, that
--> The one who walks alongside flame,
--> Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death.
** In the normal route, this presumably refers to Melina sacrificing herself as 'kindling', and meeting a destined end; but if they do follow through with the Lord of Chaos ending, then [[ProphecyTwist the Player Character]] becomes the one 'walks alongside flame', and Melina promises to deliver them their earned "destined death." There are other hints that she has a connection to the Gloam-Eyed Queen, who wielded Destined Death, particularly her sealed eye being purple or gloam-colored.

** Whether there are multiple outer gods associated with death who have intervened at various times throughout the history of the Lands Between, or whether it is the work of a singular entity. As mentioned above, the game heavily implies there is a singular outer god but stops short of outright confirming it.
** For that matter, how much the god(s) is(are) involved with each event. The Gloam-Eyed Queen almost certainly received Destined Death from a greater power, but whether or not her Godskin's god hunt is a decree given by said power or the Queen's own initiative remains a mystery. The spread of the Deeproot and the Deathroots which cause Those Who Live in Death to rise is also never explicitly stated to be its attempt of spreading influence, and it is possible it happens simply because Godwyn's Death-afflicted body was buried under the Erdtree and caused [[TheCorruption the roots to mutate]], without any divine intervention from its outer god.
** In fact, is Destined Death itself even an Outer God at all? There's a distinct possibility that while there IS an Outer God that represents Death - the Deathbirds are proof of this - the Rune of Death itself could be just that: a Rune. Immensely powerful, but essentially a magical, mindless program that imposes the 'order' of death into the things it imbues, not too dissimiliar from the Elden Ring itself. Bound because of the way some factions, such as the Godskin, the Black Knife assassins and necromancers, would use its power for dangerous reasons rather than the source of power itself being inherently malicious.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The [[MonsterProgenitor Twinbird]] that arrived in The Lands Between in ancient times was probably not a "bird" as we understand the concept. Going by associated iconography, it had two heads, black and red feathers and it was ''huge''. If the description of it descending down from the heavens is literal, then [[FantasyAliens it flew through space from another world to get here.]] Somehow it mothered the Deathbirds, these freaky living skeletons that can control the blackflame, despite being the only one of its kind. Most disturbing of all, it has the ability to influence the souls of those who die in The Lands Between and can even control them with its unique powers. Eventually The Golden Order declared war on it and chased it into some hidden, unknown place far away from the Erdtree.
* AnimalMotifs: Heavily associated with birds, especially carrion birds like crows and vultures which are frequently misunderstood scavengers; this ties into the belief of Destined Death and its followers that death is a natural part of life. Notably, the Deathbirds look vaguely like grotesque vulture chicks.
* ArcWords: "Destined Death" refers to several things in-universe; it's a phrase important to both the Godskin cult and later on Those Who Live in Death, an essence granted to the Gloam-Eyed Queen which was taken by Maliketh upon her defeat, a title ''adopted'' by Maliketh, and one of several epithets which might belong to an outer god. Its true meaning seems to be something close to WeAllDieSomeday.
* CameBackWrong: Those Who Live In Death are unable or unwilling to reincarnate to the Erdtree but can't fully die as Destined Death is sealed, so the end result is the Deeproot type of death that make them zombies and skeletons.
* TheCorruption: Though initially not indicated to be an outer god's influence, the Deathroot spreading from the Prince of Death Godwyn's body is this. It spreads and mingles among the Erdtree roots, causes Those Who Live in Death to rise as well as infecting various lifeforms across the Lands Between with reproductions of Godwyn's "face" somewhere on their bodies. However, due to the lack of information pertaining to the characteristics of Destined Death, it is impossible to determine if the spread happens as an innate part of the Outer God's influence (like the blood growths of the Formless Mother, the growth of Eyes of Yelough in Frenzyflame-touched lands, and fungi that grow from Scarlet Rot), or as a result of Godwyn's unique situation (he's technically alive but soul-dead, resulting in his mutation, and he's buried under the Erdtree's roots, which might be spreading the Death from him) corrupting the current order, as dead demigods usually don't cause Deathroot growth (Ranni and Godrick's corpses don't grow any).
* DemBones: Those Who Live in Death are shown to be either zombies or this trope. Notably however, they seem to be sapient and are capable of forming groups and even revere the being from which they originate; the Prince of Death Godwyn.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Possibly. Destined Death initially seems malevolent, what with the ZombieApocalypse and TheReveal of Fia killing D. But if Fia is tracked down, treating her nonaggressively has her articulate her desire for Those Who Live in Death to exist within the Golden Order, and she seems genuinely grateful and happy if worked with. Notably, Melina does not interfere to stop the Tarnished from achieving the Age of the Duskborn ending as she does with the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, showing that she at least considers Destined Death more positively than the Frenzied Flame -- though given [[OmnicidalManiac the nature of the Frenzied Flame]], that's a fairly low bar to clear.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Destined Death is strongly associated with darkness, the night, and the eclipse. Everything about its essence are dyed in black, the Deathbirds only show up in Lands Between at night, and the Mausoleum Knights use the eclipse symbol both to hold the powers of Destined Death at bay (Eclipse Crest Greatshield) ''and'' to harness it and inflict Deathblight (Eclipse Shotel).
* TheFerryman: Tibia Mariners are presented as archetypal skeleton boatmen in the vein of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Charon]], alluding to the common theme of a "river" separating the living and the dead.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the lore, both deathblight and blackflame are capable of killing immortals and inflicting [[DeaderThanDead True Death]]. Yet in gameplay, both deathblight and blackflame are status effects that can be endured or staved off, and even after dying to it the player Tarnished will respawn as normal. While this can be assumed to be a side effect of Maliketh sealing Destined Death away having weakened both, in the story itself the Deathblight sickness manages to kill Rogier permanently despite being Tarnished, suggesting it is still strong enough to truly kill at least the Tarnished resurrected by Grace.
* GodzillaThreshold: The Erdtree refusing entry to anyone, making it impossible for the Elden Ring to be repaired, is enough of an 'oh shit' moment for the entire world to make unsealing Destined Death a necessity.
* TheGrimReaper: An entity affiliated with death and skeletons. Its servants the Tibia Mariners even look like traditional depictions of the Reaper, simply trading in the scythe for an oar (which incidentally makes them look similar to Charon from Myth/ClassicalMythology).
* LeakingCanOfEvil: Due to the Black Knife Assassins stealing a portion of the Rune of Death and killing Godwyn, the Rune of Death is present in the Lands Between in the form of Deathroot. This is one of the rare cases where it leaking is ''worse'' than it just being unbound: if it was fully unbound, the dead would just stay dead, but since the Golden Order's 'immortality' is still present, the people who die in areas affected by Deathroot are instead returned as undead.
* ILoveTheDead: Those Who Live in Death and adherents of the Prince of Death seem to be fond of, or at least tolerant of this, with Fia as the most prominent example. At the end of Fia's questline, she conceives a "child" with Godwyn's corpse using the vitality she has gathered and the two halves of Cursemark of Death, gestating them and giving birth to the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince.
* ImmortalBreaker: This is why the Rune of Death and the powers derived from it are particularly feared: it can inflict the very concept of death on beings that otherwise don't have it. The Black Knife Assassins imbued their knives with just a fragment of the rune, and that was enough to kill Godwyn, a demigod that should have been immortal. The black flame that was used to the Gloam-Eyed Queen, the original possessor of Destined Death, and her followers were used to kill demigods and skin them. The Deeproot spreading from Godwyn's body is also capable of inflicting a sickness upon Rogier, dooming him to a slow and permanent death despite his ResurrectiveImmortality as a Tarnished. Later this becomes important, as unleashing Destined Death is necessary so that the Flame of Ruin can affect the otherwise indestructible Erdtree and burn away the thorns blocking the way inside.
* KillTheGod: The Black Flame of Destined Death, originally wielded by the Gloam-Eyed Queen and channeled by her Godskin Apostles, are continually referred as godslaying flame, and their main weapons against champions of the Erdtree and possibly those of the outer gods. Even after the Queen's defeat, the Godskin continues their hunt well into the present time.

* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Subtle, but the elements are present. The oldest known death worship in the Lands Between (''"In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame."'') came from the Deathbirds, and they were known for burning the remains of the dead with their ghostflame and raking their ashes -- a ''role'' meant to be. Ancient priests who became guardians of these birds also went through the "rite of Death" to mark their oaths, sworn to a distant resurrection -- an oath sworn ''duty''. Finally, the Godskin Nobles are so old they are compared to the primordial crucible, and the cult continues to hunt gods and the kins of gods long after their Queen had been defeated by Maliketh -- an ancient ''legacy''. In short, each and every order who worships Death has an element of this trope.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The Rune of Death itself takes the form of a red-and-black ethereal cross that ''oozes'' a fog of darkness and glows a faint shade of red; however, it's not 'evil' as it is more extremely dangerous to mess with. The Twinbird is also described this way.
* SealedEvilInACan: Again, not evil, just dangerous, but it was deemed something that couldn't be allowed in the Golden Order, so Destined Death was bound and Maliketh made its warden. This didn't stop the Black Knife Assassins from stealing part of it, causing the Night of Black Knives and the appearance of Those Who Live in Death in the Lands Between. In order to avoid this happening ever again, Maliketh bound Destined Death to his own body; unfortunately, the player Tarnished needs Destined Death to be fully unleashed to reach their ultimate goal, so Maliketh has to fall.
* TechnicolorFire: Different factions will have access to either cold ghostflame or black flame. Ghost flame is blue colored fire that comes from burning bones and black flame is aimed against gods.
* WeAllDieSomeday: The apparent true meaning behind the phrase "Destined Death". Melina's FinalSpeech as she burns herself in the Forge of the Giants seems to allude to this.
--> ''"The one who walks alongside flame, shall one day meet the road of Destined Death. Good-bye."''
* ZombieApocalypse: The current plague of Those Who Live in Death ''might'' be Destined Death using Godwyn's body as a conduit to spread Deathroot throughout the Lands Between, which causes the dead to rise. Downplayed because these zombies appear to be sapient and are far from the worst thing happening in the Lands Between during the events of ''Elden Ring'', and downplayed further if the Age of Duskborn ending is chosen, in which undeath becomes a natural part of the cycle of life, thus removing the "apocalypse" part altogether.

So feared and reviled is the Frenzied Flame and its goal of universal destruction that even the adherents of other gods, themselves mortal enemies, teamed up to curb its influence. Its mortal adherents remained isolated, despised, and shunned, and the Three Fingers were imprisoned in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the Royal Capital, sealed by followers of the Greater Will and guarded by a champion of the Formless Mother. Still, the Three Fingers remain there even now, waiting for the one who would free them and become Lord of Chaos.\\

One of the newer gods to arrive to influence the Lands Between, the Formless Mother, also known as the Mother of Truth, is heavily tied to Mohg and his ambitions. The Mother is, as she is described, a shapeless god without form beyond time and space; she is associated heavily with blood, pain, wounds, murder, violence, and an extremely twisted form of love and affection. Craving agony of her own, the Mother grants power to adherents who injure her; her burning blood emerges from injuries to manifest in the mortal realm, scalding those who earn her followers' ire. Every incantation of the followers of blood is in fact a ritualistic injury inflicted upon their insatiable god. Mohg, the Mother's earthly champion, has been granted burning blood of his own, a "gift" the Formless Mother has also bestowed on his twin brother Morgott -- whether he wants it or not.\\

Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between. Already Miquella has fallen into Mohg's hands. But the Formless Mother may have greater ambitions than Mohg realizes...

In truth, the flame of the giants was a manifestation of an outer god that both empowered and enslaved their civilization. The giants were servants of the flame and inhabitated by it, and they were "cursed" to serve it for all eternity. The success of Marika's war led to almost all knowledge of this entity being destroyed. It is known to have an obvious link to fire, and appears to require adherents to sacrifice something in exchange for protection. Even its epithet is unknown, with the phrase "fell god" being an appellation inflicted after the fact by fearful enemies. It is also known as the "corrupt flame" and "flame of ruin", and sometimes as the "One-Eyed God" for its depictions as a grotesque cyclops.\\

Though the power of the fell god diminished almost to nothingness without followers to work through, the ever-burning flame still remains. Furthermore, the Fire Monks set to guard the fire alongside the last giant have become beguiled by it, forming a modern cult that has resurrected both the worship and powers of the fell god, albeit in a twisted form. During the battle with the last Fire Giant, the Giant offers up his leg as sacrifice and manifests a one-eyed face on his torso, seemingly channeling the power of the fell god to become the "One-Eyed God". Afterwards, Melina offers herself to empower its flames to burn the Erdtree, thus realizing the ancient fear of the Greater Will.\\

** There is also an unspecified connection between Destined Death and Melina, though this only comes out if the Tarnished is following the Frenzied Flame ending. If they do follow through with the Lord of Chaos ending, Melina promises to deliver them a "destined death." There are other hints that she has a connection to the Gloam-Eyed Queen, who wielded Destined Death, particularly her sealed eye being purple or gloam-colored.

** Due to the Greater Will actively suppressing knowledge of any god it deems a rival (which seems to be ''all of them'' save for the Dark Moon and to a certain extent the Scarlet Rot), much of the information regarding the outer gods is ephemeral, contradictory, or clearly flavored with a negative bias from the viewpoint of the Greater Will's followers. In particular, beyond the One Great and the primordial crucible, it's also ambiguous whether there truly is a singular being affiliated with death or whether separate-but-similar entities are behind the likes of the Deathbirds, the blackflame, and Those Who Live in Death. Likewise, little reliable information about the fell god of the giants remains. Some of the known outer gods might actually be the same entity under different titles and guises.

** The Greater Will has exerted the most direct influence over the Lands Between, to the point that its Golden Order serves as the basis for the laws of reality itself. Raising Marika to godhood and gifting her the Elden Ring to cement her power, it directed her to war against the giants, servants of an outer god. It also seized the energies of the Primordial Crucible and used them and the Elden Ring to empower the Erdtree, a symbol of its power that extended the Golden Order across the Lands Between. It tolerated reverence for the Moons done by the Liurnians (likely because they had initiated conversation with the Dark Moon, rather than the other way around) and, for whatever reason, also either allowed the Scarlet Rot to bless Malenia in the womb with its Rot or took no steps to curtail its influence, even naming her an Empyrean. The Greater Will's hold on the Lands Between has started to slip as Marika, its foremost servant, rebelled against it and shattered the Elden Ring. Having abandoned the Lands Between due to Marika's betrayal, it is poised to be usurped by outer gods, which indeed is possible for the Dark Moon, the Frenzied Flame, and Death in some of the game's MultipleEndings. In the base ending, the Golden Order is established as-is with the PlayerCharacter as Elden Lord; the Age of Order ending establishes a modified version of the Golden Order in which gods like Marika are no longer allowed to act as they please. The Blessing of Despair ending establishes a twisted return of the Golden Order stained by the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curse, in which all present and future generations will be barred from returning to the Erdtree.

** Whether or not the One Great described by Hyetta, speaking on behalf of the Frenzied Flame, even ''exists'', and if it does, whether or not it is an outer god. Hyetta describes it as the original form of life in Lands Between, fractured and divided into various lifeforms due to a mistake from the Greater Will. Assuming the Frenzied Flame is not simply deceiving Hyetta, then the One Great might refer to what is called the "primordial crucible" described in Aspect of the Crucible incantations, and the Greater Will's mistake was sending the Elden Ring to the Lands Between[[note]]as the Erdtree powered by the Ring is described to be in opposition to everything else in the world at the time of its arrival, and only through countless victories in wars it became the "embodiment of Order" and became able to harness the vital energies which were once aspects of the primordial crucible[[/note]]. However, there is no information whatsoever about One Great's nature of being, as it is only hinted as an outer god because of circumstantial clues and the fact its state of being is a concern of the Frenzied Flame, which is definitively an outer god.

Following their god's example, disciples of the Formless Mother likewise relish in blood and pain. Taking some of her blood into their body, their fingers decay into sickly half-dead flesh with a constant drip of fresh blood from beneath the fingernail. Devoid of any sensation except for an ever-present, sweet pain from a perpetually-fresh wound, these disciples christen themselves the Bloody Fingers. Responsible for assassinations and murder across the Lands Between, their cult ultimately has one singular goal: to kidnap and corrupt Miquella, Mohg's half-brother and an Empyrean, to serve as a PuppetKing with Mohg reigning as consort, the Formless Mother supplanting the Greater Will as the dominant godly force in the Lands Between. Already Miquella has fallen into Mohg's hands; the young Empyrean has been killed and is in the process of being reborn by the Formless Mother to shake off his curse of eternal childhood and make him a more biddable puppet. But the Formless Mother may have greater ambitions than Mohg realizes...