Major Characters
Main Characters | The House of the Erdtree (Godfrey's Lineage | Rennala's Children | The Twin Empyreans) | The Greater Will
Secondary Characters
Overworld NPCs | Roundtable Hold | Raya Lucaria | The Land of Shadow NPCs | Renowned Ashes | Outer Gods (The Frenzied Flame) | Historical & Unseen Characters
Enemies and Bosses
Enemies and Bosses (Dragons | Liurnia of the Lakes | Recurring Enemies and Bosses | Tarnished Invaders and Targets | Land of Shadow | Messmer's Forces)
Spin-Offs
The Road to the Erdtree | Nightreign
Rennala's Children / The Carian Royals
Carian Queen Rennala married Radagon of the Golden Order, thus uniting both houses. Upon Radagon's ascendancy to the Elden Throne, their children Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni were elevated to demigodhood.Radahn the Red Lion

- Voiced by: Pip Torrens
Also known as the Conqueror of the Stars and the Red Lion. Son of Rennala and Radagon. Radahn is the Red Lion General, leader of Queen Marika's armies, and the most famous of the Demigods. A legendary warrior unmatched by any who would face him. During the Shattering War, Radahn lead his Red Lion army in conquest, before facing his half-sister Malenia in the disastrous Battle of Caelid, the final major battle of the war. Though the battle was pitched, they ultimately fought each other to a stalemate caused by Malenia detonating a gigantic Scarlet Aeonia directly on top of him.
Now, his body riddled from head to toe with Scarlet Rot and his mind rent asunder, he wanders the Wailing Dunes eating both the corpses of his Redmanes and the Cleanrot knights he once fought alike. It is here that the Tarnished encounters him as Starscourge Radahn while taking part in the Radahn Festival, during which a motley team of warriors join forces to give Radahn what he always would have wanted, a warrior's death facing insurmountable odds.
In Shadow of the Erdtree, Radahn is resurrected into a newly created form molded from the body of Mohg to serve as Miquella's consort in his ascension to godhood. The Tarnished initially fights this version of Radahn as Promised Consort Radahn, and subsequently Radahn, Consort of Miquella once Miquella himself starts lending Radahn his aid. Tropes entirely specific to that boss can be found here.
- A Boy and His X: Radahn is so attached to his horse Leonard that, once he became too big and heavy to ride it, he learned gravity magic just so he could continue to do so. Even in his feral state, indiscriminately attacking anything which moves around him and devouring corpses that don't, he never tries to do the horse any harm.
- A Good Way to Die: The Radahn Festival is Jerren's attempt to grant him this, saying that his lord deserves to die in glorious battle and that he thinks it's how Radahn would want to go. The battle itself is indeed epic, with the Tarnished and (if they choose to summon them) multiple companions from throughout their journey across the Lands Between fighting the Starscourge across a field of corpses, and a meteor shower falling from the sky the moment Radahn dies, as if commemorating his death.
- Achilles' Heel: As his body has already been ravaged by the Scarlet Rot before the festival-goes face off with him, Radahn is extremely susceptible to the Rot status ailment.
- Agony of the Feet: He's missing his feet when you fight him, even though he had them when fighting Malenia in the trailer. Either he (unsuccessfully) tried to stop the spread of the rot by amputating them, or they simply rotted and fell off on their own and there wasn't enough of him left mentally to care.
- Almighty Idiot: By the time he's battled in-game, Radahn is still an immensely powerful warrior and sorcerer, but he's so mentally degraded by the Scarlet Rot that he's barely more than a raging animal.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Unlike his parents and siblings, who mostly have natural skin tones, Radahn's skin was a dark bluish gray color even before he was infected by the Scarlet Rot. The portrait of him in Rykard's manor
◊ indicates that, like his monstrous size and proportions, this was a recent development, possibly related to learning gravity magic from a similarly oddly-coloured Onyx Lord. - Ambiguously Gay: What we know for sure is that Radahn made a promise with Miquella to be his consort when they were children; implying Radahn had no problem being in what amounts to a marriage with another man, but due to the sheer vagueness - and it being impossible to know how serious he was being about the vow and the later conflict with Malenia - his true orientation is difficult to discern.
- Ambiguously Related:
- Some context clues imply Radahn might have been a practitioner of Dragon Communion. Disproportionate gigantism, grey stone-like skin, and yellow eyes are all side-effects of consuming too many hearts, Caelid has the largest concentration of dragons in the Lands Between, and the Cathedral of Dragon Communion is just outside Redmane Castle. The dragonkin background in the character creation also has grey skin and yellow eyes, though not gigantism. His soldiers run the Gael Tunnel mine, which has a Magma Wyrm (a practitioner of Dragon Communion whose transformation went wrong) as the dungeon boss. On the other hand, neither he nor any of his knights utilize any Communion spells (though they do use fire spells), and Radahn's eyes lack the slit design possessed by other Dragonkin.
- There are Blackflame Monks and a Godskin Apostle occupying Radahn's divine tower in Caelid alongside his Redmane soldiers. They're coded not to attack each other, and if you lure them into the same room they'll work together to kill you and go back to their respective guard positions after you're dead. The meaning of this is never clarified. It could be tied to his implicit alliance with Rykard, who also has Blackflame Monks and Godskins in his manor, and whose war machines fight alongside Radahn's men around Caelid. Radahn's Divine Tower also has a chest holding the Godslayer's Greatsword.
- On top of the Blackflame Monks, both he and his brother Rykard have some undisclosed relation to the Fire Monks. Fire Monk Flame Chariots (confirmed as such by the Note: Flame Chariots item) operated by their members can be found patrolling alongside his troops in Caelid, as well as at Mount Gelmir and in the Fire Monks' own camps. The Fire Monks are dutybound to suppress the flame of the giants and there are giant corpses all around Radahn's territory of Caelid, so that might have something to do with it, or Radahn's troops might have called the monks for help containing the rot after the Battle of Aeonia. The Visage Shield, bearing the face of a Fire Giant for the stated purpose of teaching its bearers to fear their power, is also found in Caelid.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Most of Radahn's actions, even in his feral state, are pretty understandable; Kill foes, eat foes, and protect his horse. But it is not really clear why he keeps howling at the sky, as Jerren insists on pointing out more than once if you talk to him before the fight. Is Radahn lamenting his fate? Or copying his idol Godfrey? Is he making sure the Redmanes know there's still fight in him? Is he calling out to Malenia for them to finish their battle? Or is it part of his perpetual crusade against the stars and the creatures that live among them? Or is it just his Scarlet Rot-induced madness forcing him to howl? No one can say, but Jerren and the Redmanes take it as a sign that he wants to be put out of his misery.
- Exactly why Radahn "holds the stars in place" is never properly explained, barring that in doing so he "holds Sellia secure" and that he sealed Ranni's destiny in the process. The Telescope's item description implies he may have done it on behalf of the Golden Order to "fetter" different fates.note , alongside the fact he bears the symbol of the Erdtree on his cape and idolizes Godfrey, but the game never confirms or denies this. The Japanese text of the game, however, removes the ambiguity and explicitly states
he did it to become "Sellia's defender," though it doesn't explicitly state how holding the stars in place keeps Sellia safe. - It's implied at some point during the Shattering, Radahn 'mutated' in some way - his skin is an unnatural obsidian tone similiar to the Onyx Lords, and he has abnormal body proportions - his painting in Volcano Manor and his resurrected form in the DLC show him less grotesquely titanic and with a natural skin tone, clearly indicating something happened. However, the nature of this change is unclear, only that it wasn't the Scarlet Rot's corruption that did it.
- The new information from the DLC makes his relationship with the Haligtree faction even more confusing. He apparently made a promise to be Miquella's consort, but Malenia still invaded him and even unleashed the Scarlet Rot in order to kill him, and her last words make it highly likely she was doing it because of said consortship promise. So, why were they fighting if Radahn agreed to be Miquella's consort? Did Radahn break said promise, or was he even serious about it in the first place? Was the campaign his price for agreeing, and if this is true, given that he's A Father to His Men, why did he want to subject them to a pointless and inglorious war that ended in Caelid's ruination? Was Radahn being killed and returned a necessity for the ascension ritual (him being present definitely was, and the scroll says "the lord's soul will require a vessel," but never clarifies if this means that the lord must be killed and resurrected or if the lord's original body would suffice and Radahn just needed a new one because the Scarlet Rot + his boss fight made his unusable), and if not, why did Malenia try to kill him?
- It's unclear to what extent Consort Radahn is mentally present during Shadow of the Erdtree's final boss battle. At the start of the battle, Miquella says that Radahn's soul will be returned, and Miquella's power isn't visually seen until he enters the battle in the second phase, at which point Radahn’s burning red aura turns gold, suggesting that Radahn is actually alive and doing things of his own accord here... though it could also just mean that Miquella is bolstering Radahn's resistances (his Rot and Holy resistance in the first phase are down the tubes, but they're high in the second) Freyja, one of Radahn's most trusted warriors, believes that reviving him into an "immortal god of war" is something he'd genuinely want. Radahn also reacts when Miquella hugs him. However, Radahn also never speaks (and thus never clarifies his side of the situation), Jerren, another of Radahn's inner circle, disagrees with Freyja, and Radahn was possibly unwilling in the first place, depending on why Malenia fought him. And while Miquella explicitly admired Radahn for his kindness, he made his promise before he abandoned his love, so it's entirely possible that the Miquella seen in the boss fight had forgotten why he wanted Radahn as his consort and just wanted Radahn's strength without that pesky objection to universal mind control.
- And I Must Scream: After centuries of shambling through a desolate wasteland in unending, unimaginable agony as the Scarlet Rot eats him from the inside out, screaming is pretty much all the man can do by the time the game begins proper. Radahn's boss fight comes off less as some epic battle, and more a drawn-out Mercy Kill so the poor guy doesn't have to live like this any longer.
- Animal Motifs: Lions, as can be seen in his armor's motifs, his greatbow being called the Lion Greatbow, his title as the Red Lion General, and the name of his associated knightly order, the Redmane Knights. He adopted this motif in deliberate imitation of his idol, Godfrey.
- Elephants could also apply, with him being a colossal, bluish-grey, tusked juggernaut who was beloved by his men and considered one of the more noble demigods. In addition, his stumps of feet resemble elephant's feet, and despite his mind deteriorating from the scarlet rot, he never forgot his love for his steed or his mastery over gravity sorcery. His comically small horse Leonard also may have been inspired by the tradition of depicting the Hindu god Ganesh (who famously has the head of an elephant) riding upon the back of a small mouse.
- Anti-Villain: Radahn is one of the more noble demigods and has many heroic qualities, such as his good relationship with his troops and close ties to Leonard. Yet the game initially presents Radahn’s role in the Shattering as having claimed a shard despite having no valid right to the throne, and subsequently prosecuting his war as far as Leyndell to obtain said throne, with battlefields littering The Lands Between. His Scarlet Rot-induced madness after his duel with Malenia also makes him quite pitiable.
- The Archmage: While he may not look like the type, Radahn is also one of the most powerful sorcerers in Lands Between, having mastered gravity magic. In fact, his renown as Starscourge was earned since his youth from "challenging the stars" and warring against star spawn beasts. During his youth he created a gravity well over Lands Between to arrest the cycles of constellations; blocking shooting stars off the world before falling to the land, and repulsing away the lights of distant stars (which is why the night in Lands Between has very few visible stars prior to his defeat) — all of which prevent Ranni from contacting the Dark Moon and become an Empyrean. Even after having been weakened by the Scarlet Rot and driven past the brink of insanity, he still has enough power and sanity left in him to maintain this gravity well, to the point after his defeat an entire meteor shower shows up, from all the shooting stars previously halted in place. Not only that, but the fight itself includes many spectacular displays of gravity magic, especially his infamous Dynamic Entry halfway through. All in all, these are incredible achievements for someone who originally learned magic just so he could keep riding his horse.
- Armor Is Useless: Unique among his siblings, Radahn wears full plate armor. This appears to be more for appearance than utility though since the trailer depicts Malenia plunging her sword through his chest (excusable as she's incredibly strong) and a Cleanrot knight shoving a spear through his stomach (less so, as they're mere Elite Mooks). You can see several spears sticking out of his model too. Gameplay-wise he actually has the fewest hit points of any demigod besides Godrick, even though half of them go into battle shirtless. Then again, the man is a shadow of who he once was.
- Ax-Crazy: His battle with Malenia left him infected with the Scarlet Rot, which slowly ate him from the inside and drove him insane to the point he is now just a feral, mindless beast who has wandered the desert of Caelid eating nothing but the corpses of his dead friends and enemies.
- Back from the Dead: What occurs as the end of the DLC. Miquella places Radahn's soul into Mohg's body and revives him as his promised consort, though the lack of insight into Radahn's thoughts makes it unclear if you're really fight him again or just a puppet of Miquella.
- Badass Arm-Fold: As shown in the story trailer, before he squared off against Malenia, he had his arms folded in this manner to make him look even more imposing than the 25-foot-tall mountain of a man he already was. In Shadow of the Erdtree, he does it in his intro cinematic as a Call-Back.
- Badass Army: His Red Lion Army was one of the most hardened and skilled among the Lordsworn, and they won him victory after victory through his leadership during the Shattering. They are such badass soldiers, they've managed to contain most of the Rot in Caelid even after being decimated during the Shattering and losing their leader.
- Badass Boast: Despite being voiceless besides grunting and roaring by now, Radahn's Redmane Helmet attributes the page quote to him, which to be fair is one hell of a way to sell your prowess. It's implied he was fond of such boasts in general, but the page quote in particular sticks out as his father Radagon apparently saw his red hair as a Mark of Shame, whereas the same helmet reveals Radahn prided himself on the "heroic implications" of the red hair his father passed down to him, as it was considered a sign of a superhuman destiny in the age before the Erdtree.
- Badass Cape: He has a massive, embroidered one dyed a deep crimson, which trails behind him as he charges across the battlefield.
- Baritone of Strength: While Radahn doesn't directly speak throughout any of his onscreen appearances, the grunting noises he makes while executing some of his attacks indicate that his voice is Serious Sam levels of deep, which is only fitting for the World's Strongest Man.
- Bash Brothers:
- Was one to Jerren, to the point Jerren put aside his duties to the Carians to work for Radahn as a commander during The Shattering war and the two even swore an oath together to grant each other an "honorable death" if one were ever to fall to madness.
- During the time that he trained under an Alabaster Lord to learn Gravity Magic with Commander Gaius, he and Gaius were legendarily competitive with one another.
- BFS: Radahn's swords are massive even compared to him, with one being larger than the Tarnished's entire body. Later on in the fight, he will use his gravity magic to cover his swords in stone, causing them to become even bigger.
- Big Brother Worship: He is said to have looked up to both Gaius and Messmer, as "elder brothers".
- Blessed with Suck: It is stated in its description that his Great Rune (which enhances health, stamina, and mana when used by the player) is responsible for him surviving his duel with Malenia, due to the fact that it "burns, to resist the encroachment of the scarlet rot." He probably would've preferred that it didn't, as instead of quickly dying to a Worthy Opponent, his Rune's resistance ensured that he would be doomed to a slow, extremely painful, and thoroughly undignified death, spending his last days feasting on corpses like an animal while his body and mind both decay from the inside.
- Blood Knight: Radahn craved war, and, wanting to emulate his idol, grew obsessed with battle at a very young age. Despite this, before his mind is severely degenerated by Malenia’s Scarlet Rot, Radahn is portrayed as having been a kind and honorable warrior, using his gravity magic to protect Sellia from monsters, and described by many of his followers as a very caring leader.
- Bloody Murder: In the DLC, he uses Mohg's bloodflame incantations in addition to his usual gravity sorceries, due to his soul inhabiting Mohg's body.
- Body Horror: He really is a pitiful sight to look at by the time the Tarnished meets him; he's absolutely riddled with spears and arrows piercing through his body, he's missing his feet, his armor is now caked in filth, blood and mold, and his blackened flesh is coated with blemishes of Scarlet Rot.
- Boulder Bludgeon: Various moves he has across all his forms is to generate giant boulders out of the earth, store them in the air for a moment and then launch them at you with gravity magic.
- Bring It: In the Story Trailer, Radahn answers Malenia readying her prosthetic arm and accompanying sword by drawing his greatswords out of the the ground (as depicted in the page picture) with his Gravity Magic with enough force to create Chunky Updraft when combined with his roar. His Flesh Golem in Shadow of the Erdtree recreates the maneuver, causing the entire massive boss arena to quake.
- Brought Down to Badass: Malenia — herself an undefeated One-Woman Army — couldn't kill him and had to cross the Godzilla Threshold by unleashing the Scarlet Rot and she still couldn't kill him. Malenia has nonetheless left him in a state far from what he used to be, but he is still tough enough to face an eight-to-one battle against renowned warriors and still stand a pretty good chance of coming out on top. His healthy and lucid version of himself in Shadow of the Erdtree further reveals the disparity between what he has become and what he used to be: Scarlet Rotted Radahn is a powerful but beatable mid-game boss. Radahn in his prime is a Final Boss, and that's not even taking Miquella's help into consideration.
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: Despite being more or less a rabid beast by now, Radahn will still go out of his way to gently stomp Leonard into the sands when he is doing particularly feral or wide-ranging attacks for it's own safety. Even stark raving mad, he is prioritizing his horse's safety over his own. Prior to the Battle of Aeonia, he was described as being a stoic but honorable warrior who cared greatly for those under his command.
- Came Back Strong: In Shadow of the Erdtree, his resurrected form is returned to a form more similar to when he was younger and at the peak of his strength and swordsmanship skill - that, mixed with a new (yet not fully mastered) ability to use Bloodflame due to using Mohg's body and Miquella's divine magic assisting him, Consort Radahn is likely stronger than he's ever been.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: When Miquella became an Empyrean, he desired Radahn as a consort. Radahn made a vow with Miquella where he would become his consort and in return, Miquella would have to uphold some unspecified part of the vow. However, during the Shattering Malenia and Radahn would fight against each other for unspecified reasons, potentially because Radahn recanted on the promise and Malenia was sent by Miquella to force him to fulfill it.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Radahn made a vow with Miquella to become his consort, in exchange for something that isn't clarified. During the Shattering Radahn and Malenia would face each other in battle, prehaps because Radahn went back on his promise, or that a great battle was what he wanted, or something else entirely.
- Climax Boss: Several characters, quest lines, and incidental details found throughout the first half of the game mention Radahn, his conflict with Malenia in Caelid, and in particular the Redmane Festival being prepared in his name with a select few allies requesting your presence at the event, culminating in your participation as you lead a small army to take the mad demigod down. This is all accentuated with him being given a special introduction cutscene detailing his backstory and how he got reduced to his current state, all of which gives the battle with him a greater sense of gravitas compared to Godrick or Rennala.
- Cool Sword: The Starscourge Greatswords, a pair of tremendous cleavers made from black steel and engraved with the sigil of Gravity Sorcery. Like the blades used by the Alabaster and Onyx Lords, Radahn's swords double as the stave he used to cast magic.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Starscourge Conflict was said by both Iji and Sellen to have been ended by him in a crushing and smashing victory, implying he battled the stars with ease.
- Death Seeker: Jerren states the small part of Radahn still there wants an honorable end to his current state of misery.
- Doomed Hometown: Sellia, a town in Caelid where Radahn learned about gravity magic during his youth, ends up razed and its inhabitants slaughtered as a result of Malenia’s invasion.
- Double Knockout: Fought Malenia at the end of the Shattering. The duel ended in what was effectively a draw, with both Radahn and the entirety of Caelid ravaged by the Scarlet Rot, while Malenia meanwhile rendered comatose from having to activate her Scarlet Rot abilities.
- The Dreaded: As the Red Lion General and "the Shattering's strongest Demigod", Radahn was famed and feared throughout the land as an apex warrior, magician, and tactician as a General. Attempting to summon Patches to help you during the boss will result in Patches spawning in, taking one look at the thing you're fighting, and proceed to peace the fuck out instantly.
- Dual Wielding: His Starscourge Greatswords come in a pair, and both he and a Tarnished with the right stats can use them to great effect to tear foes assunder.
- Elemental Motifs: Fire. He's a Hot-Blooded bloodthirsty warlord who screams and flails in battle, his army universally uses fire weapons and spells as their elemental damage of choice,note he lights himself on fire for his Meteor Move, his Great Rune (indicated by Mohg's to be influenced by their shardbearers) is described and shown as burning, the narrator in the (ambiguously canon) 2019 reveal trailer narrates how the sky is "burning" over a shot of him screaming at it, he's fought underneath a red sky amidst piles of skeletons,note his fiefdom is an arid desert with his boss arena being the driest part of it (pure sand dunes), and his hair is bright red (of a deeper shade than his half-sisters' and father), explicitly described as "flaming" in his helmet's description, and inexplicably stands up.
- Empty Shell: What the Rot reduced him to; an animal who wanders battlefields and fights anyone who gets close. This is also a possible interpretation of "Promised Consort Radahn" during the DLC, as he is completely silent in combat and might have reneged on his vow to Miquella during the Shattering. See Ambigious Situation for more.
- Eye Scream: Close inspection of his textures reveals that mold is growing on his face and eyeballs.
◊ - Equal-Opportunity Evil: Downplayed as Radahn could hardly be called evil at all but despite seemingly being a champion of the Golden Order, Radahn and his army had litle of its prejudice on purity; his best friend Gaius being an Albinauric, recruiting based on merit rather then class as he did with Freyja (whose was a lowly gladiator turned knight; raised up by Radahn for her skill in combat), and his army - the Redmanes - explicitly having a Misbegotten Leonine and Crucible Knight serving its ranks despite both being outcasts. It's a very similar attitude to his idol, Godfrey.
- Face of a Thug: Radahn was a terrifying sight to behold with his almost demonic-looking face, intimidating armor, and giant build; his Scarlet Rot only made him look worse as a zombified giant. In reality, Radahn is described as being one of the noblest and most stalwart of his siblings, and was a stern but caring Father to His Men.
- Famed in Story: All Demigods except Mohg has this to some degree, what with being royal family and sitting on thrones in Leyndell but Radahn is referred as the one that distinguished himself the most during the Shattering. On top of that while the other Demigods either disappeared or are staying in their stronghold Radahn maintains public attention thanks to the festival his followers advertise as an opportunity to put him out of his misery.
- Fate Worse than Death: Radahn was infected by Malenia's Rot at the end of their fateful duel. Normally, this would lead to a slow, painful death even for a demigod. Unfortunately for him, his innate resilience combined with his Great Rune prevented it from killing him, but did nothing to stop the spread. He spent centuries in constant agony as the Scarlet Rot devoured his mind and body. By the time the Tarnished encounters him, he's a decaying husk of his old self driven only by the urge to kill anyone who enters his territory. This might also be the case with "Promised Consort Radahn" in the DLC, as his soul is put within a Flesh Golem made from Mohg's body and made into Miquella's consort. However whether Radahn is being mind-controlled or is completely on-board with the situation isn't made clear either way.
- A Father to His Men: Radahn was said to greatly care for the men under his command and treasured his Red Lion army. In return, his soldiers cared about him so much, they came up with an elaborate plan to Mercy Kill him, unable to bear seeing him in the state he's in.
- Feral Villain: Insofar as Radahn could even be considered a villain — he was one of the most noble of the demigods and an Anti-Villain at most given his role in the Shattering. The other demigods at least have their wits about them and continue their schemes or vigils, while the Scarlet Rot has left Radahn a broken, deranged beast aimlessly wandering the Caelid wastes eating the dead bodies of soldiers.
- Fiery Redhead: Radahn inherited Radagon's red hair and definitely fits the qualities for this trope. He sees his red hair as a symbol of pride that marks him as "the champion's cub" — heavily contrasting with his father's opinion on his own red locks, who saw it as a mark of shame.
- Final Boss: Radahn, or rather, the Flesh Golem he becomes after being fused with Mohg's remains by Miquella, is the Tarnished's final foe in Shadow of the Erdtree.
- Flaming Meteor: Invoked; his second phase transition has him come crashing down onto the battlefield like a big flaming meteor.
- Flesh Golem: Miquella absconds with the corpse of Mohg and is implied to have tampered with it as well as imbued it with the soul of Radahn to recreate Radahn before he was afflicted with Scarlet Rot.
- Four-Star Badass: Infamous and known throughout the land as the Red Lion General, Radahn was an extremely talented commander, being a master tactician on top of being one of the strongest warriors the land has seen. His leadership and charisma were such that even after the disastrous Battle of Aeonia, his Redmanes are still organized and disciplined enough to simultaneously contain the spread of Scarlet Rot to Caelid in a brutal Forever War and host the Radahn Festival to give the good general the honorable death he was denied against Malenia.
- Frontline General: Radahn was mightiest among his legions and so naturally led from the front, which resulted in him personally dueling at least two other demigods. He personally confronted Morgott (under his Margit persona) at the First Defense of Leyndell and evidently lost. Later, after growing much larger and stronger, he led his forces against Malenia's army at the Battle of Aeonia and personally killed countless Cleanrot Knights before dueling the Blade of Miquella herself to a mutually destructive draw that led to the ruin of Caelid.
- Genius Bruiser: Radahn was an utter monster in combat, having absolute mastery in swordsmanship, mounted combat, and archery, but he was also an accomplished academic, being a tactical genius and The Archmage of gravity magic.
- Gladiator Games: Back when these were legal during the reign of Godfrey, Radahn seemed to be quite the patron of these, going by the fact there's a colosseum in Caelid, and the fact he met and recruited Freyja at one.
- Glory Seeker: Implied. Radahn's reasoning for challenging the Starspawn is never stated, though implied to have something to do to protect Selia but given his idolization Godfrey, most famous for having lead Marika's army against the Fire Giants, it's possible Radahn also wished to emulate his war against primeval forces by challenging the stars and their spawns. Radahn's love for war and glory is also likely why he involved himself in the Shattering.
- A Good Way to Die: The point of the Radahn Festival. Radahn is dying anyway from Scarlet Rot, so rather than let him slowly waste away to nothing as a pathetic shadow of his former self, his men organize an army to let Radahn go out with the boss battle he deserves; fighting the greatest champions in the Lands Between with his bow, swords, and gravity magic.
- Gravity Master: Being the son of Rennala, Radahn possesses tremendous talent in sorcery, and he particularly specializes in gravity magic, having learned under an Alabaster Lord in his youth. And putting his skill to the test by conjuring a gravity barrier powerful enough to block falling stars and starlight from reaching Lands Between. Even in his feral state, General Radahn can still control gravity and conjure meteors on sheer instinct.
- Great Bow: His other weapon of choice aside from the Starscourge Greatswords is his Lion Greatbow, which he uses on his initial phase to snipe you from afar.
- Handicapped Badass: He lost his feet due to the Scarlet Rot and it doesn't inconvenience him. If the need arises, he will start slicing you to bits while crawling on his knees.
- Happy Ending Override: A possible interpretation of Radahn's ultimate fate. Though it comes at the cost of having to battle scourges from the stars in his place, the Radahn Festival concludes with the Tarnished and his comrades triumphing over the mad demigod, finally granting him an honorable death. Shadow of the Erdtree reveals that this may have been by Miquella's design, as he has Radahn's soul reanimated into Mogh's body and is made into Miquella's consort, undoing the efforts of the Redmanes. It's possible Radahn is brain-washed and wants nothing to do with Miquella and only wants to die again, but its also possible he's in complete agreement with being reborn. Either way, the Tarnished kills him again.
- Heroic Willpower: Even after facing down her army, and hours of personally dueling her, he fought on against Malenia until he got infected by the Scarlet Rot, and even then both he and his army still managed to stop the spread of the Rot to just Caelid. Even after decades of being in a state of frenzy and inhuman madness, he was still consciously holding onto a fragment of sanity, given he never considers devouring his horse Leonard despite ferally preying on everything else.
- Hero-Worshipper: Radahn utterly reveres Godfrey and his legendary prowess as a warrior, customizing his armour to be based on the Lord of the Battlefield's lion motifs and implicitly taking up the hunting of the Starspawn in the hopes of matching the first Elden Lord's famed war against the Fire Giants.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: As it turns out, the gravity magic Radahn uses to fight the starspawn creatures is probably inherent to them in the first place.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Radahn has gone from the most widely-respected and beloved warrior and military commander in the Lands Between to a barely-cognizant madman who aimlessly roams the deserts of Caelid eating corpses. It's pretty clear why Jerren wants to help put him down as a Mercy Kill for his old friend.
- Huge Rider, Tiny Mount: General Radahn is colossal, but rides a comparatively tiny emaciated horse with a too-long neck and legs. He's said to have learned how to control gravity specifically so he could keep on riding his small and weak steed as well. The Starscourge Heirloom shows that even in his youth he was oversized compared to his mount, but in that case it was a somewhat sane difference, equivalent to a big guy riding a pony. By the time of Aeonia he had skyrocketed in size for some reason so that now his horse's shoulder is about level with his kneecaps.
- Human Pincushion: This happened to him during his war against Malenia. Those giant arrows he shoots at you throughout the battle? Those are the spears that the Cleanrot Knights stabbed into him before he killed all of them, which he's pulled out of his body and is now using against you. You can still see a good dozen or so sticking out of his back during the battle.
- Hunk: While Radahn in the present day is a scraggy, troll-faced man whose skin is ravaged with Scarlet Rot blemishes, his Volcano Manor portrait and Shadow of the Erdtree incarnation demonstrate that when he was younger and at his strongest he was handsomely fair of face with a Lantern Jaw of Justice to compliment his athletic build. It's no wonder Miquella fell head over heels for him. By the time his soul is put in Mohg's body to be revived, he reclaims the striking good looks he had before the Shattering, with his muscles rippling under bronzed skin beneath his armor and his masculine good looks visible under his helmet.
- I Let You Win: In the manga adaptation, Aseo notices that Radahn could have dodged the finishing blow, but doing so would mean it'd hit his horse instead. The great general Radahn died because he would not risk harm to his beloved horse.
- I'm a Humanitarian: After being driven insane, he began feasting on the corpses of allies and foes alike, and is even seen doing so in his intro cutscene.
- Human Resources: After his death, Alexander the Living Jar steals part of his corpse to try to claim some of his power.
- Improbable Weapon User: Ignoring the twin greatsword cleavers he swings around like they were kitchen knives, Radahn foregoes carrying a quiver for his bow by just yanking spears stuck in his back out and loading them with gravitational magic.
- Lamarck Was Right: His mom was a powerful witch and his dad a barbarian able to master advanced sorceries and even create high intellect incantation.
- Large and in Charge: He was the primary general and leader of all of Marika's armies, and he's absolutely gargantuan — larger than any of the other demigods and dwarfing most bosses in the entire game. During flashbacks to the fateful duel in Caelid he makes the eight foot tall Malenia look tiny by comparison.
- The Last Dance: The Radahn Festival his troops are holding is an attempt to gather enough strong warriors to put Radahn down for good. His army laments the monster he's become and desire to find a way into both performing a Mercy Kill and honoring him one last time.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: During the start of their fight, Radahn can be seen patiently waiting for Malenia to arm her Valkyrie Prosthesis with his greatswords standing on their blade-ends on the ground, letting her ready herself for their duel, a very honorable gesture. She returns the gesture, letting Radahn slowly draw and enchant his swords and give her a Bring It! before she makes a move.
- Lightning Bruiser:
- Holy hell. Despite being supposedly reduced to nothing more than a rabid monster, Radahn's combat prowess is through the roof. The fight opens with him immediately becoming hostile and bombarding the Tarnished with great arrows from several hundred meters away. When they get close, he begins his greatswords and gravity magic to zip about the battlefield disconcertingly fast for a creature of his size (or rather, his horse moves him really fast). He even leaps into the sky and comes down like a meteor when he changes into his final phase.
- Radahn in Shadow of the Erdtree is even more relentless, having far fewer opportunities for the player to both attack and heal, and only getting more oppressive once Miquella joins him. In particular, Miquella gives him a Flash Step ability that allows him to rapidly teleport forward mirror images of himself before snapping across the battlefield in an instant.
- Living Legend: Blaidd calls him this verbatim after he's slain. Due to having been struck with madness and becoming solely a beast of action rather than a man of both action and words, Radahn is characterized entirely from context clues and his actions before falling to madness long ago, making him almost literally a living Tall Tale guaranteed everlasting fame for his larger-than-life actions even after losing all he once was to the Scarlet Rot.
- Lost in Translation: In the Japanese script Radahn's title is not "general," but "shogun" (将軍). While "general" is a valid way to translate it, and it presumably went through translation because it'd be weird for a warlord in a Medieval European Fantasy setting to have an obviously Japanese title, the implications of the two words are somewhat different. While "general" is a generic title for a military commander, "shogun" recalls a very specific historical rank in feudal Japan for de facto military dictators of the country, and is never used for modern military ranks. The title is a shortening of Sei-i Taishōgun, literally "Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians",note having originally come into use in the context of the wars against the Emishi people. The fact that no one else in the game gets the title "shogun" while others are called by different titles that could also be translated as "general" is also lost in translation. This might contextualize seemingly inexplicable details about Radahn like why he was in charge of Caelid specifically, why his soldiers were not actually native to the land he ruled (as noted in the description of the Redmane Knight Armour: "Alas, dear home, I shan't see you again! For our duty is to remain here, a bulwark against the blight.") why said land was sparsely populated even before it got rotted (Sellen, Gideon, and Millicent always refer to it as "the Caelid Wilds" in the past tense. "wilds" literally meaning "an area that is far from where people usually live" or "an uncultivated, uninhabited, or desolate region.")
- Loved by All: Easily the most beloved and popular of the demigods among the common folk of the Lands Between, and indeed, Radahn patterned himself after Godfrey instead of his father Radagon in part because of Godfrey's popularity among the people as the First Elden Lord.
- Made of Iron: Radahn has already taken a ridiculous level of punishment before his battle with the Tarnished. With the untreated wounds from the Shattering War and the Rot afflicting his mind and body, the fact he can put up a fight at all is a testament to his resilience.
- Magic Knight: At first, Radahn fights with a mix of swordsmanship enhanced by his impressive size and strength. He then unleashes a flurry of gravity spells on the Tarnished, hurling meteorites at them. Lore also states he also used his gravity sorcery to make himself lighter for his horse, but also in addition to holding the stars over the Lands Between. Appropriately enough, the player version of his greatswords have high strength requirements yet deal split-damage: physical and magic.
- Male Might, Female Finesse: With his giant greatswords and heavy sweeping strikes, he's the might to Malenia's lithe finesse.
- Manly Gay: An Ambiguously Gay example: despite being one of the most overtly masculine characters Fromsoft has ever created (being a Hot-Blooded Blood Knight Warrior Prince), Radahn promised Miquella he would be his consort when they were children.
- Master Archer: While he will draw his twin greatswords when anyone engages him in melee, Radahn is no slouch with the bow either given he can fire arrows loaded with gravity magic, making them fly at bullet-like speeds, with Radahn occasionally drawing several arrows for Rain of Arrows or a shotgun burst of several dozen arrows at once. The arrows — which are actually the spears of Malenia's Cleanrot Knights impaled into his back, evidently just giving him more ammo — are about the size of a small tree and will blast you right off of Torrent on a direct impact.
- Master of All: Let's see here: master of Mounted Combat, Master Archer, one of two contenders for the setting's World's Best Warrior in close combat, a prodigy sorcerer, an expert strategist and on top of all this, was such A Father to His Men his army had enough morale and sanity remaining in them to hold a festival in his name after decades spent in non-stop war against the horrors of Caelid. The man seems to have the ability to become the best at anything he puts his mind to, and, amazingly enough, retains enough of his skill to be a deceptively lethal to foes even after deteriorating in both mind and body from Malenia's Scarlet Rot.
- Master Swordsman: His swordsmanship is less flashy than Malenia's, but he handles his massive blades with enough speed, precision, and clever use of gravity magic to make his phenomenal skill clear, letting him carve through a small army of Tarnished heroes with disturbing grace even while near-mindless from the Scarlet Rot. It's all but stated that his swordplay was as refined as Malenia's when he was in his prime and not afflicted with the Rot, which speaks volumes of just how skilled Radahn was at his apex. We get to see it first-hand in the form of the Final Boss of Shadow of the Erdtree: Radahn, Promised Consort. His swordsmanship is now crisp, fast, and deliberate, with barely any openings, showcasing his phenomenal skill.
- Mercy Kill: The whole point of the boss fight with him is to put the poor guy out of his misery, courtesy of his own troops who can no longer stand to see him suffer. They've been trying to grant him an honorable death for so long that it had become a regular festival event by the time the Tarnished gets their turn. Radahn's long-awaited rest is interrupted by his resurrection and subsequent transformation into Miquella's Promised Consort, requiring that the Tarnished defeat both of them to finally put the Starscourge to bed for good.
- Meteor Move: Halfway into the fight, Radahn gathers his strength and leaps high into the sky, beyond what you can see. The music fades out and the time advances to night... only for him to come barreling down on the battlefield from orbit, striking with the force of a meteor. A direct impact is a guaranteed death, no exceptions, while survival's possible from merely being grazed. Messing with the game to have bosses fight each other shows
that if allowed to perform the move, it will often do damage in the thousands and swing fights he's losing (including instagibbing slow-moving bosses like Radagon, who numerically takes off half of Radahn's HP before they even make contact due to their powerful magic.) - Mounted Combat: The absolute master of this in-game; Despite weighing the same as a small freight train Radahn rides effortlessly around for long wound-up cavalry swings with so much grace he appears to be skateboarding across the desert sands, with Leonard turning on a dime to direct said enormous swings right at you or your summons. The sheer momentum on some of his attacks almost makes it look like his horse is Flash Stepping to make the swings accelerate as intended by Radahn.
- Mundane Utility: The original reason he learned gravity magic was so he would not have to give up riding his comparatively weak and scrawny horse after he grew too big and heavy for it to carry, just because he loved it so much. In combat, he also uses gravity magic to control the phenomenal momentum of him and his weapons, letting him move and strike with far more agility than should reasonably be possible.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Lord of the Battlefield's Lion, Starscourge, Conqueror of the Stars. This is a man who by reputation alone took "If the universe is so big, why won't it fight me?" literally, and succeeded.
- Nice Guy: Despite being a war-mongering Blood Knight who idolises war and glory, Radahn is often stated to have a good-natured personality. We see Radahn's more noble side in his love for his horse Leonard, dedication to protecting Sellia (the town that taught him sorcery) and the great loyalty he inspired in the Redmanes.The description of the Remembrance of a God and a Lord also states that Miquella believed that Radahn was both strong and kind, and best suited to aid Miquella in ushering in his Age of Compassion.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He's the spitting image of Alexander the Great of Macedon, being a Warrior Prince who (claimed in Alexander's case) has Semi-Divine status, is famous as a stern warrior and brilliant general, wears a gold helmet carved in the likeness of a Lion (with it as their Animal Motif), is a noted conqueror, is a Hero-Worshipper of Hercules (In Radahn's case an Expy of him in the form of Godfrey), is well-known for his relationship with his huge black horse (Leonard in Radahn's case, compared to Bucephalus for Alexander), and finally beloved and worshipped by their soldiers due to being such a A Father to His Men. Ironically, it is a Living Jar named Alexander who takes pieces of his corpse to become stronger after his death.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Radahn is an outlier among the demigods and the rest of his family. He's 27 feet tall when most of them are 8 to 12 feet, inhumanly wide relative to his height, has dark grey skin, extremely short legs (the other demigods have proportionally long legs to emphasize their stature), almost ogre-like facial features, yellow eyes with black sclera, and more obviously inhuman proportions than the other demigods, especially in how extremely his design invokes Tiny-Headed Behemoth to the point that he probably can't see in an FOV wider than 20 degrees. He looked like this even before his duel with Malenia. It's not an effect of learning gravity magic, as Redmane Knight Ogha learned the same techniques alongside Radahn and doesn't appear to have any massive differences in his proportions compared to other knights. That said, his portrait in Rykard's manor depicts him with a human face and a much smaller body relative to his head, he's depicted as completely different in size on the Starscourge Heirloom, significantly shorter and more evenly-proportioned when fighting Morgott in the introductory cutscene (if that's meant to be representative rather than allegorical in-universe art), and the size of his throne in the capital indicates that while he was always very tall, he used to be in the same size range as his siblings.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: The Festival grounds are noticeably dead quiet besides a choir of his soldiers chanting a slow somber song in Radahn's honor, and sure enough, they provide the highlight of Radahn's boss theme
; In his first phase they provide a baritone marching song accompanied by heavy brass and drums as if to give their leader the same honors he went into battle with when he was sane. Radahn's shattering of the earth is even worked into the music, marking a noticeable shift in tempo into a more somber choir that provide Radahn with a funeral march. According to the manga, this is actually happening In-Universe; with a core of Lordsworn actually singing this as a funeral song to honor him and the champions delivering his Mercy Kill. - One-Handed Zweihänder: General Radahn dual-wields a pair of swords almost as big as he is, and considering he's a giant...
- One-Hit Kill: His meteor attack cannot be resisted even with the highest amount of Vigor, damage negation and Greatshields available. Depending on how (unfortunate) your position is, he can potentially OHKO multiple summons.
- One-Man Army:
- So much so it's actually the main gimmick of his fight, using reusable summoning signs found in his arena to summon wave after wave of allied NPCs to keep him occupied and distracted... operative word being reusable, as he will slaughter these allies within seconds of contact with him. Furthermore, it's strongly implied by Jerren that there have been multiple Radahn Festivals, which can only mean that he massacred every previous group of warriors that tried to put him down.
- The Starscourge Conflict was implied to have been fought solely by him. Per one Sword Memorial: "The Starscourge Conflict. Radahn alone holds Sellia secure. And stands tall, to shatter the stars."
- Our Giants Are Different: Radahn is massive even by demigod standards, about 27
◊ feet tall
◊ with a build fit for a strongman. No reason is given for why he's literally dozens of times larger than his parents. It seems to be a relatively recent development as he first learned gravity magic so as not to have to abandon his horse (who's supernaturally big, but still only about as big as the ones the Nightriders use and tiny compared to the full-grown Radahn), implying he was always a huge guy, but still somewhere around his siblings' size once. If the Flesh Golem made in his likeness before he was struck with Rot is any indication, Radahn used to still be the biggest of the demigods at around 15 feet, with a far more classically Heroic Build than the mountain of flesh that was the Starscourge. - Peaceful in Death: In the manga, we're given a beautiful shot of Radahn's right before he fades into golden dust; where he's staring into the sky with serenity and peace
◊. - Pet the Dog: His whole reason for learning gravity magic? So his beloved horse would not have to deal with the strain of carrying him around.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: A variation. In his second phase during the Shadows of the Erdtree finale, when Miquella climbs onto his shoulder, the god's incredibly long and ethereally blonde hair create a similar mane-like appearance as Serosh does for Godfrey, effectively making Radahn in that moment what the Starscourge always wanted to be; like The Lord of the Battlefield.
- Rain of Arrows: One of his long-ranged attacks, called Radahn's Rain is shooting a massive volley of equally massive great arrows to the sky, and raining down into an impromptu wall of death. The fact it can actually home in on whoever is being targeted suggests there might also be some influence of his gravity magic.
- Rasputinian Death: Even after centuries of enduring untreated injuries from his battle with Malenia and her Cleanrot Knights, the Scarlet Rot ravaging his body and mind, wandering a desert with nothing but corpses for sustenance, and repeated attempts from warriors across the land, it still took the Tarnished working with a small army of some of the greatest fighters still alive to finally kill Radahn.
- Recurring Element: Like Artorias, Vendrick, Yhorm the Giant and Ludwig before him in other FromSoftware titles, Radahn takes the reoccurring role of a great respected hero corrupted into something monstrous by the very power he was fighting, and whose final death is seen as a Mercy Kill by those who remembered him.
- Red Baron: The Conqueror of the Stars.
- Removing the Rival: After completing his training in gravity magic, Radahn used his powers to "arrest the cycles of constellations", blocking shooting stars and their glintstone and the light of distant stars. This prevents Ranni from reaching the stars which guide the Carian Royal Family's fates as well becoming an Empyrean on Dark Moon's behalf; as such she can't begin her full plans until the Tarnished defeats Radahn and frees her destiny.
- Secret A.I. Moves: Twofold — he can use both Cragblade and Starcaller's Cry skills with his Starscourge Greatswords, which is impossible for the Tarnished to perform since the Starscourge Greatswords they obtain from his Remembrance only has the Starcaller's Cry skill, and he can also cast Collapsing Stars without the need of a Glintstone Staff.
- Shared Signature Move: His Shadow of the Erdtree appearance has two connections to other bosses.
- The first is that he possessed a single chain of Bloodflame attacks, the signature magic of Mohg. This subtly reinforces the idea that this version of Radahn was recreated using Mohg's body.
- The second is his Shockwave Stomp which can be jumped over which is nearly identical to the one possessed by Godfrey/Hoarah Loux, tying in with how Radahn famously idolized Godfrey and emulated much of himself after him.
- Sigil Spam: Radahn's two swords are engraved with the symbol of Gravity Sorcery, the same sigil that appears whenever someone casts a Gravity spell.
- Skyward Scream: One of the many animalistic actions he undertakes after having his mind wasted away by the Scarlet Rot is to periodically bellow upward into the night sky full of twinkling stars. He is shown doing this in the cutscene during Jerren's monologue which informs you of his predicament.
- Spanner in the Works: His war with he stars ended with him putting a gravity well that hampers Ranni's power, stopping her plan until he is dead.
- Strong and Skilled:
- Jesus Christ. If his immense speed and strength weren't enough to deal with, his masterful swordplay with his dual BFS and his potent usage of gravity magic will make him a nightmare for mid-game players. The scariest part is that Radahn is currently a pale speck compared to what he once was due to his Scarlet Rot affliction: one can see why he was declared the mightiest of all Demigods in his prime.
- Radahn in Shadow of the Erdtree is an unmatched Lightning Bruiser, giving the player just a glimpse of who fighting the real Red Lion when he was at his strongest is like. He is almost completely incapable of being staggered by one person, he can take enough punishment to probably kill three Malenias and every attack of his is very deliberate, relentless and damaging, with plenty of confusing mixups and multi-attacks to keep your head spinning before he turns it into paste.
- Super-Strength: While all of his siblings are blessed with inhuman strength, the added benefit of Radahn's great size has allowed him to outshine them all. By ripping his model
◊ it can be determined one of Radahn's Starscourage Greatswords had a volume of 1.076 m^3 and therefore a mass of around 8.4 tons (as they're stated to be made of steel). Meaning Radahn can swing around what are essentially a pair of edged buses like they were twigs. - Summon to Hand: As seen by the story trailer and his intro cinematic in Shadow of the Erdtree, he can use his gravity magic to attract his greatswords into his hands.
- Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: The boss arena for Starscourge Radahn has numerous reusable Summons, totally up to nine NPCs help fight or, more accurately, distract Radahn. While this would make any other boss fight easier, it makes Radahn's tolerable due to him being extremely dangerous to those he has his attention to. On a related note, his fight is one of the few where Torrent can be summoned, making it easier to keep Radahn at a distance or get up close to him before Leonard zooms off out of range with Radahn in tow. This can also be a trap though, as Torrent staggers heavily and can't dodge-roll, while if you stick close to his legs on foot, most of his attacks will whiff.
- Top-Heavy Guy: His legs only make up about a third of his height.
- Token Good Teammate: Downplayed. As far as flaws go amidst his siblings, being a Blood Knight and possible Glory Seeker was pretty low on the list; Radahn described otherwise as a Father to His Men, Benevolent Boss (who promoted warriors based on their merit, not their purity to the Golden Order), and a kind man who earned the respect of both enemies and allies. Likewise, Radahn is one of the only Demigods (save Godwyn) who did not to not commit some horrible deed or turn outright evil, only attacking the player because he was driven mad from the Scarlet Rot. Even his battle with Malenia was by all accounts self-defense.
- Tragic Monster: He was once a famed hero who was beloved by his soldiers. By the present day, he's succumbed to Scarlet Rot and become little more than a feral beast. His fate is lamented by his followers, who now try and gather as many strong warriors as possible to put him out of his misery during their regular Radahn Festivals. Also a possible interpretation of Radahn's fate in the DLC, as his soul is placed within Mogh's body and he becomes Miquella's consort. It might be that Radahn's revival is entirely against his own will, and that he has become Miquella's brain-washed puppet. See Ambiguous Situation.
- Undying Loyalty:
- Radahn was a master of inspiring this; his soldiers worshipped the ground he walked on, his commanders, like the Redmanes and Jerren, thought of him as a brother and would do anything he said, and even his horse, Leonard, refused to leave his side after he fell to madness. In turn, Radahn completely returned it, given he didn't once harm Leonard even decades into his rotting and feral state don't, still protects him from the player and his own sword swings.
- He himself seems to have had this for his step-father, Godfrey. His page quote, after all, has him declaring himself to be the "Lord of the Battlefield's Lion"
- The Un-Reveal: Unlike most of his siblings, Radahn's motivations for participating in the Shattering aren't stated or even alluded to. Possible motives he could have had range from his obsession with battles or desire to elevate himself, but whatever it was, it earned him Morgott's contempt.
- War God: Rivaled only by Malenia; Radahn was hailed as the mightiest warrior of the Demigods in his prime and both he and most of his followers highly value warrior honour and martial skill.
- Warrior Prince: Though the son of Radagon, Radahn became inspired by Godfrey's fighting prowess, eventually earning the right to wear lion-themed armor similar to the first Elden Lord, and becoming a Challenge Seeker much like Godfrey, probably unaware that No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction was the death sentence of Godfrey's Grace.
- Whole Costume Reference: In terms of design, Radahn’s armor bears a strong resemblance to Emperor Gaiseric's in Berserk (himself probably inspired by the same person as Radahn), in keeping with From's many references to that manga. Specifically, he looks like Gaiseric as he's first depicted, with most of his helmet obscured by shadow
◊; check out especially his helmet with the plume of his own hair trailing behind it.- His helmet, meanwhile, bears a strong resemblance to the one used by Raoh in Fist of the North Star.
- World's Best Warrior: Stated to be this in the story trailer, alongside his rival, Malenia. He's not only a 27-foot giant capable of defying physics with his movements; a Four-Star Badass and A Father to His Men; an expert strategist and Master of All, being a master of Mounted Combat, a Master Archer, and a fearsome warrior Dual Wielding a pair of tremendous cleaver-shaped swords made of black steel with great skill, but was on top of all that also The Archmage, having mastered gravity sorcery to the point where he could cast devastating spells while only needing his swords as foci... By the time you reach him, however, his body and mind have been tragically ravaged by Malenia's Scarlet Rot and he is but a mere mindless shadow of who he used to be in his prime. Mind you, in this context that still makes him an epic Climax Boss whose gimmick is that you can call in half a dozen additional warriors to help you take him down, so he's still more than capable of inspiring awe. The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC reveals just what Radahn was like in his prime, as he is resurrected by Miquella to serve as Miquella's consort, and the DLC's final boss. Even before Miquella comes in to add his holy attacks to Radahn's arsenal, Radahn's strength and skill when he's not crazed by Scarlet Rot infection is far beyond any other boss. His use of gravity magic when he's sane is also much more impressive.
- World's Strongest Man: One of the contenders for the title in this setting. Radahn dueled Malenia, another candidate for this trope, to an inconclusive draw when she was holding back the Rot and he was holding back the stars. Going by the brief bit of the fight we get in the story trailer, the fight started with a straight clash of blades and ended with Malenia having lost her prosthetic arm and being impaled by the shoulder on the handle-end of her blade from driving it into Radahn, and with Radahn on all fours and reeling for a full fifteen seconds as he gives Malenia an intense Aside Glance before she "bloomed". The final blows they hit each other with were respectively Radahn chopping off Malenia's prosthetic arm and Malenia sinking nearly her entire nine-foot sword into Radahn's chest, which doesn't seem to affect him in the present. Yet when the Rot came out, it didn't manage to kill him. Even after the Rot crippled him over time, Radahn can potentially require multiple heroes working together to put down. Jerren and Blaidd, at least, both label him as "the mightiest demigod" in his prime. However, he's also shown losing to Morgott in the introductory cutscene, and is stated to have feared Maliketh just like the other demigods. That said, while these three and possibly others can match him in a fight through skill, circumstance and experience, Radahn definitely has the greatest displays of raw power among his fellow warriors, from the huge blasts and boulders he's able to fling around with his magic to how every single one of his blows carries the mass of an 8-ton sword swung by a 10+ ton giant and was using magic on literal meteors he's been holding back for years on end. As of Shadow of the Erdtree his Flesh Golem becomes strong enough to easily win back the title, displaying a level of strength, skill, and magic far beyond the competition, as he's an extremely difficult Final Boss.
- Worthy Opponent: Blaidd and Iji hold him in very high regard despite the fact Radahn made moves to oppose their liege-lord. It helps Iji was an Old Friend of Radahn's second, Jerren, who likewise respects and likes Ranni.
Radahn's Horse
Radahn's faithful steed, who continues to carry his master even after his derangement with the aid of Gravity Magic.- The Alleged Steed: Was described as "scrawny" even before being hit by the rot nuke. Now he looks emaciated and shriveled, somewhat like if horses pruned up like raisins.
- All There in the Script: The horse's name is never actually given in-game. Rather, it's in the game files which name him; more specifically, him and Radahn are a single NPC called "RadahnAndLeonard".
- Assist Character: Ever wondered why Radahn was able to zip around the battlefield so fast? This horse is why.
- Automaton Horses: Unless Radahn somehow found a good stable with fresh water and hay in the Wailing Dunes while the Scarlet Rot had reduced him to a bestial frenzy, then apparently he is one.
- Cool Horse: Radahn's horse seems underwhelming compared to his rider, being comparatively tiny and looking quite sickly. But he more than pulls his weight, and actually grants Radahn a huge advantage. While Radahn has to lighten himself with gravity magic so the horse can comfortably bear him, gravity has no effect on mass, which means he is still providing the impetus to accelerate dozens of tons (his own mass + Radahn's + his multitude of weapons and "arrows") of flesh and metal at very high speeds. Constantly, without as much as a whinny of complaint. Radahn doesn't seem capable of doing this himself outside of certain specialized techniques, due to his stumpy legs. This is doubly the case in the present, where his feet have rotted off; without his horse he's reduced to (relatively) slowly dragging himself along the ground, but his steed turns Radahn into a high-speed magic-throwing blender and with his Gravity magic they make for a concerningly agile dynamic duo. Note also that the horse is gigantic, some ten feet at the shoulder. He just looks small compared to the 27-foot Radahn. He's also incredibly durable, given how many times he's able to shrug off Radahn stomping on him hard enough to bury him entirely in the sand.
- The Determinator: Leonard is just as crazy dedicated as every other Redmane. The Scarlet Rot has done a number on him as much as his master, and unlike Radahn the horse doesn't have a Great Rune to resist it, but he still carries Radahn in battle and will even rear up and neigh in triumph in some of his animations.
- Meaningful Name: The horse's file name, Leonard, means "Brave Lion". It's still another indication of Radahn's admiration of the lion-motifed Godfrey.
- Morality Pet: Even deranged from the Scarlet Rot, Radahn never attacks his horse; at most, he'll (relatively) gently nudge it into the sands with his leg stumps to protect it from particularly wild attacks. In the manga, Radahn is defeated by an attack he could've easily dodged, but might've hurt Leonard had he done so.
- Undying Loyalty: Still carries Radahn after the Rot has reduced him to a husk of himself.
Praetor Rykard / Lord of Blasphemy / The God-Devouring Serpent

- Voiced by: Simon Gregor
Formerly known as Praetor Rykard. Like Ranni and Radahn, he's a child of Radagon and Rennala who became Queen Marika's stepson when the former became the second Elden Lord. The Praetor was in charge of the Empire's religious State Sec, the Inquisition, before committing blasphemy against the Erdtree and becoming consumed by sin.
- 0% Approval Rating: Let's just say that he's not very well liked. Even as Praetor, he was reviled for his "serpentine behavior," and many lore items relating to him reveal that he was a ruthless man with a penchant for torture while serving the Golden Order. And then his act of turning against the Erdtree and the Greater Will during the Shattering elevated him to becoming everyone's common enemy. Then he fed himself to the God-Devouring Serpent, becoming an omnigluttonous Animalistic Abomination which lead to his abandonment by his very own knights (with the added implication that even his underlings in the Inquisition turned tail). Tellingly, during the Shattering Rykard's Gelmir dominion was the only place Morgott, who tried to hold the fort in Leyndell and mantained a defensive stance during most of the war, actually attempted to invade. From Gideon's own words, Rykard was an enemy never to be forgiven, and this was double so for someone like Morgott. Even now, with nobody but the Volcano Manor on his side, the recusants either only work for him out of fear or because their goals aligned, with Bernahl declaring him as weak should he be slain by the Tarnished. That said, it's clear that his immediate family members — Radahn, Ranni, Tanith and his (adopted) daughter Zorayas — harbor a deal of respect for him, with the latter two especially loving him as husband and father, respectively.
- Achilles' Heel: As powerful as merging with the God Devouring Serpent made him, it also made Rykard vulnerable to the Serpent-Hunter, a spear whose true power is unleashed when facing giant serpents.
- Ambiguous Situation: Ranni rewarded him with a blasphemous claw on "the night of the dire plot" when she stole the Rune of Death in case Malekith went after Rykard. Does that mean Rykard had a part in it? He has an agenda of his own that doesn't line with Ranni but Ranni has made stranger temporary allies than her brother and it's not like she has any greater love for the Golden Order or the Greater Will than Rykard and his Recusants.
- Ambiguously Related: There's a Godskin Noble and a Blackflame Monk seemingly guarding the path to his audience chamber in the Volcano Manor. Whether or not Rykard has some sort of alliance with the god-hunting cult is never clarified, but they do share similar goals so it's not a wild assumption to make.
- Ambition Is Evil: Zig-Zagged, actually. Rykard is said to be have been full of ambition since day one, but he was admired by many of his peers. His decision to commit blasphemy — that is, waging war against the Erdtree and the Greater Will — was even seen by his knights and the recusants of the Volcano Manor as a heroic act. Eventually, however, Rykard's ambitions deteriorated into simple greed, which ended up turning him into a mockery of what he once stood for and his own army abandoning him.
- And I Must Scream:
- Essentially his Fighting Fingerprint both as a Praetor and as the Lord of Blasphemy: Earmark a group of people, systematically lure or abduct them, torture them, and then kill them. As for Albinaurics, rather than outright kill them, Rykard would dispose of them in a way that disallows the possibility of death. The souls of the champions Rykard has lured and eaten are also stated to be still fully conscious and writhing in eternal agony.
- He himself may or may not be in this state after the fight with the Tarnished. Even should his claim of being immortal and unkillable turns out to be true, all that remains of him is a giant, unresponsive severed head that is no longer a threat to anyone. Should you kill Tanith while she tries to eat his corpse in a mad attempt to bring him back, there'd be no one left in the Lands' Between willing to resurrect him, ending him for good.
- Animal Motifs:
- Snakes, which stands for deceit and betrayal, but also rebirth and immortality. Rykard was formerly a stern praetor who headed the empire's Inquisition, but in the wake of the Shattering, vice and ambition had wormed his way into his heart, and he betrayed his family. By the time the player finds him, he has transformed into a grotesque, snake-like abomination whose only thought and goal is devouring the gods.
- He also has a minor centipede motif, as his monstrous form resembles one due to all the writhing limbs along its length, which is fitting as centipedes represent spiritual impurity in Japanese mythology.
- Animalistic Abomination: The God-Devouring Serpent, a primeval lifeform worshipped as a deity by ancient humans of Gelmir with Human Sacrifice, was already one by itself. But after consuming Rykard and his Great Rune, it went full Body Horror as the Lord of Blasphemy, growing a coating of writhing shadowy limbs (which belongs to the souls it's devoured), two bloated human arms, and Rykard's now gigantic face fused to its chest. In addition to the ability to spew Hellfire and summon the souls of the dead in fiery storms. It's also implied it can go even further; if Rykard was allowed to continue consuming souls, and eventually the gods themselves, his power would grow to the point he could devour the very earth itself, as a towering cosmic snake writhing through space and time.
- The Anti-God: Presently attempting to turn himself into this as a way of taking Rage Against the Heavens to its logical extreme. He's chosen to merge himself with a god-devouring predator in order to become a god of blasphemy, a being that exists to gorge itself endlessly on all of creation and take its power for itself.
- Appropriated Appellation: Rykard is a hardcore blasphemer and he's damn proud of it, with even his own consort calling him such with no malice.
- Arch-Enemy: Morgott appears to consider him this. His invasion of Mount Gelmir is the only offensive action he's known to have undertaken during the Shattering, and judging by the number of forces committed and the unbelievable ferocity of the fighting, Morgott really, really wanted Rykard dead. Gideon labels the climactic battle of the campaign, the Siege of Volcano Manor, as the most harrowing event of the entire Shattering, which is really saying something. Also, while he lists the other demigods' names in a disappointed but still largely respectful tone, Morgott practically spits Rykard's name out during his monologue before his boss fight, indicating a special enmity between them. This likely stems from Rykard's gleeful embrace of blasphemy and omnicidal ambitions against the Erdtree.
- The Archmage: Although he's nowhere near as strong as his siblings, Ranni and Radahn, Rykard is a powerful sorcerer in his own right, having singlehandedly revived an entire lost family of primeval, magma-based sorceries.
- Assimilation Plot: Rykard letting himself be eaten by the God-Devouring Serpent, along with the whole of Volcano Manor, is an elaborate case of this. Everyone he consumes merges with him as "family" and gives him their strength, letting him grow larger and larger. The Volcano Manor exists to recruit powerful Tarnished and grow them in strength so that they can be eaten by Rykard to enhance his power until he is large enough to consume the entire world.
- Atop a Mountain of Corpses: Rykard's fight takes place in an arena with so many corpses that the entire floor is made of blackened cadavers of unknown depth and there are mountains of bodies and bones strewn about that he knocks over while trying to kill you. While it's by far at its worst in his personal chamber, this trope pretty much extends to the entirety of Mount Gelmir and its surroundings. There are corpse piles everywhere and seemingly no living people left in his fiefdom aside from his snake spawn, the ten or so Recusants, and a handful of zombified commoners and undying Albinaurics stuck to torture machines inside the mountain.
- Beard of Evil: In his current form, he's got a beard made out of encrusted scales, but he fell to depravity long before his transformation, and as a human he sported a full-chin beard, as seen in the Taker's Cameo talisman and in the portrait behind Tanith.
- Beast of the Apocalypse: As the God-Devouring Serpent, it’s said that at some point Rykard is to devour the gods, and after that the very world itself.
- BFS: Rykard wields the Blasphemous Blade, a gargantuan sword covered in the still-moving remains of his victims.
- Big Bad Wannabe: An after-the-fact example. After you defeat Rykard most of his followers shrug it off as proof he wasn't strong enough yet to accomplish his task of devouring the world. The Great Serpent itself is a terrifying beast, but it doesn't seem to be, or have yet to become, a truly divine entity like Malenia, Placidusax, or the Elden Beast, and a spear was made to hunt it down in case it becomes a problem.
- Body Horror: Jesus. His transformation has left him a giant snake with long, peeling gashes along the scales, out of which writhe masses of tiny, blackened crimson arms and snake tongues (stated to be the souls of his many victims forever trapped in eternal agony as part of his 'family'). His real face is on the underside of the snake's neck: it's huge and flat, with no ears, bloodshot yellow eyes with blackened sclera, and stretched out, ashen skin, with encrusted scales forming his crown, jowls, and beard. He's got two 'main' arms and legs (with too many fingers and toes) sticking out of some of the peeled slices on his scales, jostling for space as they crowd out the miniature arms. Oh, and he keeps the Blasphemous Blade in the God-Devouring Serpent's mouth, which happens to be where his brain would be.
- Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: He's a vile, depraved being, but despite all he had done, he sincerely loved his wife Tanith and his adoptive daughter Rya. In the case of the latter, he brewed the Tonic of Forgetfulness so his daughter could live a normal life unburdened by the truth of her origins. Compare that to his birth father, Radagon, who forever alienated him and his two siblings by essentially abandoning their birth mother for another woman, his birth mother Rennala who seems to have been a good parent until she went mad from grief, and his stepmother Marika, who's... Well, she's Marika.
- Card-Carrying Villain: If the way he looks doesn't make it obvious, then his title; the Lord of Blasphemy (which he picked out himself) will probably do the trick.
- Chocolate Baby: Never explicitly addressed, but Rykard has
◊ blonde hairnote while his parents are a redhead and a brunette respectively, and both his siblings inherited their father's red hair. It's implied that his haircolour is inherited from his father's other half, queen Marika, who famously has long blonde hair. - Clipped-Wing Angel: Feeding himself to the God-Devouring Serpent made him much tougher, but it also made him weak to the Serpent Hunter, and disgusted his followers enough that they sought out the Serpent Hunter and left it right next to him for the specific purpose of allowing somebody to more easily kill him.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Ludwig the Accursed. Both were once respected members of a religious order now transformed into hideous abominations, and both start their fight thrashing around like an animal before regaining intelligence and pulling out a sword for the second phase. However, while Ludwig's regaining of his senses is a heroic moment that restores him to the honourable swordsman he once was despite his current state, duelling you skillfully using the majestic Moonlight Greatsword, the return of Rykard's humanity only makes his serpent form look even more monstrous and unsettling, and he wildly swings at you with the disgusting Blasphemous Blade.
- Dark Is Evil: The God-Devouring Serpent has mostly black skin and its true identity, Rykard is one of the more malicious and terrifying of the demigods the Tarnished faces off against.
- The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Tanith claims Rykard is trying to kill the gods so nobody has to live under their heel anymore. Speaking with the ghost of a Gelmir Knight in the manor indicates this was Rykard's original plan, but merging with the God-Devouring Serpent has afflicted him with its bottomless hunger, leading him to abandon what few morals he had left.
- Defiant to the End: Declares no one will hold him captive after his boss fight — as the Serpent of Immortality, he would rise again.
- Didn't Think This Through: His gloating that he will never die kind of backfires as he is basically a decapitated head until Tanith manages to eat him whole, which is gonna take a while. He doesn't appear to have strength to talk back when you see him again.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: His last moment as he was eaten and merged with the God-Devouring Serpent was a vision of seeming clairvoyance — a vision of himself as the Lord of Blasphemy eating the entire earth.
- Drunk with Power: Merging himself with the God-Devouring Serpent granted him Immortality, massively enhanced his fire magic and gave him the ability to derive power and vitality from whatever he consumes. This much power, however, also succeeded in twisting his original ambitions into depraved, serpentine greed.
- Eaten Alive: Dying to the God-Devouring Serpent's grab attack triggers a special death animation where it proceeds to swallow you whole.
- Elite Man–Courtesan Romance: He's a Carian royal and one of the demigods of the realm, and yet the Consort Set's description says his paramour Tanith used to be a lowly dancer from a foreign land when they first met. They apparently fell in love soon after, and he soon made her his consort.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all of his monstrous depravity, all evidence with his wife Tanith and adoptive daughter Rya indicate he sincerely loves them both and wants only the best for them.
- Evil Is Burning Hot: It's not a coincidence that one of the nastiest Demigods is also the father of Magma Sorcery and lives in a volcano lair. All of the magic he used in his battle involve fire or magma to some degree.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: While Ranni is more enigmatic than benevolent, she does care about Rykard's well-being, even gifting him a fragment of Destined Death, which he could use to counter against Maliketh in the event he confronts Rykard at some point in the future.
- Evil Is Hammy: The man's perpetual hunger clearly extends to his own boss room:
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Rykard is an insane cannibal, but several hints are given that he dearly wants Rya to live the life of a normal girl rather than following in his footsteps. She's implied to be kept ignorant of the Volcano Manor's more nefarious goals, and his wife Tanith believes he brewed the Tonic of Forgetfulness so Zorayas wouldn't have to live with the knowledge of her unsettling true origins.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: Rykard's transformation seems to have mangled his vocal cords, he constantly struggles to get words out and constantly sounds like he's choking on something. Fittingly, he's also the most abhorrent of Radagon's children.
- Evil Virtues: Love. While Rykard has incredibly dark ambitions and is defined by such, his affection for Tanith and Rya is completely sincere and he simply wants the best for both of them. On that note, Loyalty and Camaraderie for those who genuinely side with Rykard as they have some respect for the Lord of Blasphemy and Rykard personally doesn't seem to mind that, even in his demented state.
- Evil Weapon: His signature Blasphemous Blade: a grotesque sword covered with viscera powered by the trapped souls of people Rykard devoured. If you look at it closely enough, you'll see writing fleshy hands along its surface reflecting the still-aware souls within struggling in vain to escape their horrible fate.
- Exact Words: His offer of We Can Rule Together is a sincere one, he just means it literally in that he plans to eat you and make you a part of himself. Can't get more "together" than that.Blasphemous Blade description: Remains of the countless heroes he has devoured writhe upon the surface of this blade. Now they share the same blood, bound together as family.
- Expy Coexistence: Rykard is a Satanic Archetype for the Lands Between. So is his stepbrother Mohg.
- Fantasy Counterpart Myth: Of Jörmungandr from Norse Mythology, being a nightmarish Animalistic Abomination snake, who at least dreams of devouring the entire world.
- Fallen Hero: Heavily Downplayed. Rykard was originally a stern praetor in charge of the continent's Inquisition, and although he was very much disliked by everyone else, his knights and the recusants very much saw him as a heroic figure, continuing to swear total fealty even after his decision to commit blasphemy. Unfortunately, his ambitions gave way to never-ending gluttony and depravity, turning him to a complete and utter monster of a man. His transformation lead to him being abandoned by his own knights.Gelmir Knight Apparition: "Praetor Rykard's ambitions, though blasphemous, marked him a worthy sovereign. But they were reduced to gluttonous depravity, once he gave himself to the serpent. Whatever that thing is, it is no longer Praetor Rykard. Someone must kill him. To spare him, and his ambitions, from further dishonour."
- Faux Affably Evil: Rykard talks big about how you'll join his "family" and devour the gods "together", but it's pretty obvious he's a power-hungry bastard only in it for himself.
- Flaming Skulls: One of Rykard's most theatrical attacks involves him summoning a large number of flaming skulls to fall onto the battlefield and home in on the player. They're slow enough to outrun with ease, but there's a lot of them, meaning the player needs to pay attention to avoid getting hit. He also has an attack in which he spits out a single, smaller flaming skull that similarly chases the player, with the added touch of leaving a trail of small explosions in its wake. The latter attack can be learned by the player via his Remembrance.
- Flaming Sword: While Rykard usually just swings and repeatedly stabs at the Tarnished with the Blasphemous Blade, one of his more noticeable attacks is when, if he hasn't been interrupted out of his Flaming Skulls attack, he'll channel the remaining fire in the sky into his raised sword and bring it crashing down with both hands in an explosion.
- Foil: Rykard shares many similarities and distinctions with his half brother, Miquella. They are both children of Radagon, who didn't inherited their father's red hair which he so despised, which caused him to favour them over their red haired siblings. They both previously served the Golden Order faithfully but would later abandon it because of loyalty to their family; Rykard because his father abandoned his mother, Rennala and left her heartbroken, and Miquella when he realised that the Golden Order couldn't purge the Scarlet Rot from his sister, Malenia. Rykard operates out of Mt. Gelmir, which is an ancient order from before the Age of the Erdtree, while Miquella operates out of the Haligtree, which is a brand new order that he is trying to establish. Mt. Gelmir and the Haligtree are both visible from the Altus Plateau, however, Mt. Gelmir is located above, while the Haligtree is located below. Miquella is Loved by All by his followers, who view him as a savior, whilst Rykard has a 0% Approval Rating, being hated by almost everyone in the Lands Between due to his blasphemy against the Erdtree marking him as a traitor. Miquella's followers are fanatically devoted to him, while Rykard has been abandoned by all but his most loyal followers. However, Miquella is known to be able to compel the loyalty of his followers, which gives him some Questionable Consent, whilst Rykard's most loyal followers, like Lady Tanith are fully aware of his blasphemous intentions and still follow him regardless.
- Fusion Dance: When Rykard fed himself to the Serpent, his mind and body merged with its own, creating a monstrous creature of immense power and cruelty. While Rykard appears to be the dominant personality of the fusion, it's implied that the all-consuming gluttony that now drives him are the remnants of the Serpent's will.
- The Great Serpent: The God-Devouring Serpent is a massive coiled snake, the size of a large building. It was worshipped by ancient habitants of Mt. Gelmir, by offering up living sacrifices for it to devour. When Rykard re-discovered the Serpent, he sacrificed himself to it, thus gaining some measure of control over the Serpent's body.
- Heavy Sleeper: The way the battle transitions between phases heavily implies Rykard was sleeping the entire time the God-Devouring Serpent was attacking and trying to eat the Tarnished while in turn being struck back, and while twisting its upper body every which way in attacking and reeling from blows. Despite this, Rykard reacts to the serpent's head going down like he just woke up, complete with tired grunts and slowly opening his eyes as he looks over the Tarnished in his room with curiosity before drawing his sword.
- The Heretic: It's one thing for a Tarnished to harbor doubts about the Greater Will. It's another thing for a demigod, stepchild but in actuality the direct lineage of Queen Marika and head of the Church Militant State Sec – whose job was to punish heretics – to openly declare their blasphemous intentions and willingly feed themselves to The Great Serpent of Immortality in order to gain the power to act on their ambitions. In the words of Sir Gideon Ofnir, Rykard has "marked himself as an enemy, never to be forgiven."
- Hidden Depths: Despite his current insane desire to devour the very gods, it's implied Rykard at the very least was once on good relations with his siblings, as the Volcano Manor keeps a portrait of Radahn, and Ranni gave Rykard the Blasphemous Claw, rocks engraved with traces of the Rune of Death, so he may stand a chance against Maliketh should he ever challenge him.
- Hijacking Cthulhu: Rykard willingly fed himself to the God-Devouring Serpent to fuel his blasphemous ambitions. In doing so, Rykard gained some measure of control over the Serpent's body. It's not clear how he can do this, but it may be related to his Great Rune, which was devoured with him, and it's possible that, since he only starts talking after the God-Devouring Serpent is defeated, Rykard only gains full control after the Tarnished subdues the Serpent first.
- Hypocrite: Proudly so: He rose to prominence as praetor of the ''Inquisition'', upholding the Golden Order and dealing with its internal enemies real and imagined. Now it's hard to imagine a more knowingly blasphemous, heretical, or just plain evil character. The Blasphemous Claw implies he was a secret heretic even during his tenure as praetor — why else would Ranni trust the Golden Order’s lead inquisitor with not just knowledge of her plans, but also a blasphemous weapon for him to wield in her defense?
- Irony: Rykard is perhaps the demigod that is most directly opposed to Marika's Golden Order. Despite this, he's one of three demigods who actually has a Strong Family Resemblance with her, having inherited her blonde hair.
- Kaiju: The God-Devouring is, well, a gigantic snake whose titanic size nearly reaches the chandeliers of the room its fought in. By extension, Rykard counts as well, given how he's practically merged with the snake.
- Kill the Gods: His primary goal, before and after fusing with the God-Devouring Servent, was to grow powerful enough to kill the gods. It's never specified what kind of gods he was aiming for, but his minion Bernahl's Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Greater Will indicates he could have been targeting Outer Gods.
- Legendary Weapon:
- While he doesn't use the weapon itself, the Devourer's Scepter is the primary symbol of the God-Devouring Serpent and, by extension, Rykard. The weapon itself has its very top of it crafted after the vision that Rykard envisioned before he was devoured by the serpent.
- The Blasphemous Blade is a Remembrance weapon and its description states the blade itself to be "sacred". Unlike most legendary weapons typical of this trope, this one has a rather infamous history behind it, namely that it is formed by the many beings that Rykard devoured, with whom he used their corpses and souls to be crafted into a hideous-looking blade.
- Leitmotif: God-Devouring Serpent
. - Life Drain: Unlike a certain other demigod, he can't do this himself during his boss fight, but pretty much every item associated with him and/or the God-Devouring Serpent can. His Great Rune, the Blasphemous Blade, the Serpent God's Curved Sword, and the Taker's Cameo talisman will each heal a small percentage of your health upon killing an enemy, while the weapon skills of the Blasphemous Blade and Devourer's Scepter provide healing on hit.
- Living Weapon: His sword writhes with hundreds of tiny crimson arms, said to be the souls of the countless people he's consumed.
- Magma Man: Rykard is the creator of an entire school of magma sorceries and is likely their most skilled practitioner. He displays numerous lava-based attacks during his boss fight, the most notable being a persistent pool of magma which follows him around. The player can even obtain his Blasphemous Blade from trading his Remembrance, which comes with high fire damage and a unique weapon art which launches a powerful shockwave of fire.
- Merging Mistake: His fusion with the God-Devouring Serpent clearly isn't as stable as he and Tanith believe it to be.
- Monster Progenitor: The Man-Serpent Ashes states that "the elder serpent that dwelled on Mt. Gelmir devoured a demigod, and the birth of the man-serpents followed", implying Rykard spawned all of the Man-Serpents currently manning his fortress.note
- Motive Decay: When Rykard originally rebelled against the Golden Order, his soldiers claim that he had "heroic" ambitions. After indulging in countless atrocities and feeding himself to the Great Serpent, any remnants of positive goals he once had were replaced with insane power lust and mindless gluttony. Now Rykard's only goal is to devour the bodies and souls of as many warriors as possible so that he may one day grow powerful enough to consume the world itself.
- Mythical Motifs: A god-eating serpent prophesied to help end the world? Rykard clearly took a bit of cues from Jormungandr.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Murdering Tarnished so the Golden Order can never be restored is already a debatable stance, but by the time Rykard fed himself to a giant Serpent in the name of power, it just became insanity.
- Obviously Evil: Rykard is a gigantic and horribly deformed snake who lives in a volcano lair, fights by shooting flaming skulls at you, and wields a sword covered in the still living remains of people he has eaten. Even if you just rush straight to his boss fight and miss his backstory, it's pretty hard to mistake him for a good guy.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Once he's "devoured the very gods" Rykard intends to extend his horrendous gluttony towards the world itself.
- One-Woman Wail: The God-Devouring Serpent's leitmotif employs these vocals during the midst of battle to emphasize the harrowing and ominous tone of fighting against a gigantic snake that holds a reputation of eating gods.
- Oxymoronic Being: A result of taking a quest to Rage Against the Heavens to its (il)logical extreme. He wants to become a god of blasphemy on a divine mission to consume and corrupt all that is holy. It's best expressed through his signature weapon, the Blasphemous Blade, a grotesque vampiric greatsword that scales with Faith and is one of the most sought-after armaments for a paladin build.
- Pet the Dog: Reading the flavor text for the Tonic of Forgetfulness reveals it was a gift from Rykard to Tanith. Tanith herself had no use for it, but if you progress far enough into Rya's sidequest, Tanith will give you the tonic to help Rya forget the terrible circumstances behind her birth. Talking to Tanith afterward has her muse this was likely the purpose of the gift all along.
- Physical God: The fusion between a demigod bearing a Great Rune, a divine immortal snake and countless mortal souls have clearly elevated Rykard beyond his fellow Shardbearers, indicated further by the fact that to even have a fair fight with him you have to use a weapon specifically built to kill said immortal snake. It's implied that had he feasted on more souls, he would have eventually become an unstoppable force of destruction that would eat the world itself. The description of the Serpent-God Curved Sword outright calls the God-Devouring Serpent a god, which is further indicated by the fact that it has its own temples and associated incantations.
- Planet Eater: His ultimate goal after abandoning his ambitions for depraved gluttony isn't simply to kill and devour the gods, but to devour the planet itself. Very good thing that the Tarnished was around to put a stop to his ambitions, once and for all.Devourer's Scepter: Scepter in the shape of a serpent devouring the world. This weapon will one day become the very symbol of the Lord of Blasphemy. A vision of the future briefly seen by Rykard in his final moments before being devoured by the great serpent..
- Power-Up Letdown: Becoming a serpent capable of eating the gods isn't exactly a fast-paced plan. By the time he's confronted, he seems to have consumed and taken the power of hundred, if not thousands or millions of warriors but whilst the God-Devouring Serpent has grown colossal compared to when it ate Rykard himself, if that's the amount of sacrifice it needed to reach that level, Rykard still needs to eat a lot more to become big enough to devour the world.
- Puzzle Boss: Downplayed, as some measure of skill is still needed to beat him. Rykard, by default, is the tankiest boss in not only Elden Ring, but the entire FromSoftware RPG library, clocking in at an astronomical 89000 HP across his two phases — for reference, that's about nearly six times the health of Slave Knight Gael. More than that, he is perpetually surrounded by a pool of lava, making approaching him troublesome. The Puzzle aspect comes from the Serpent-Hunter Spear that's right near the entrance, a special weapon that deals colossal damage to this specific boss and does so from a distance, resolving both issues. There's even a secret NPC whose sole purpose is to inform the player of this weakness.
- Recurring Element:
- Rykard is the third iteration of FromSoftware's "Storm Ruler" boss, (i.e.the Storm King and Yhorm the Giant). You are given the Serpent-Hunter right before the fight, an unremarkable greatspear with no stat requirements which, for this battle only, unleashes massive blades of light which deal hundreds of damage to the boss per swing. There are two key differences separating Rykard from the Storm King and Yhorm, however. The first is the Serpent-Hunter is considerably more versatile than the Storm Ruler, as all of its attacks are capable of doing insane damage, unlike the Storm Ruler which only had one slow attack that could do the job. The other difference is Rykard is a legitimate challenge and not a Zero-Effort Boss who dies in a few hits after you pick up the weapon — you actually need to be good at the game to beat him.
- Like the Gaping Dragon, the Covetous Demon, and Aldrich before him, Rykard is associated with gluttony in terms of characterization. His motivation of "devouring the gods" is especially reminiscent of Aldrich, whose epithet was literally Devourer of Gods.
- Religion of Evil: He decides to kickstart his own cult as his declaration of opposing Leyndell, Morgott, and the Golden Order. The cult itself is based on an archaic, yet malevolent religion centered on the God-Devouring Serpent that Rykard uncovered and chose to restore and follow it upon, up to allowing himself to be devoured by and subsequently merging with said serpent so that he could become the religion's central figure.
- Samus Is a Girl: Not Rykard, but the God-Devouring Serpent itself. The Man-Serpent Ashes description says that the Man-Serpents were spawned from it, meaning it's either female or hermaphroditic.
- Satanic Archetype: Of a different sort to Mohg, trading in the overt devil imagery for a more symbolic reflection. Rykard is a corrupt demigod who rebelled against the ruling deity of the Lands Between in a fit of pride and ego, lied and manipulated to convince many decent people to come with him and eventually sacrificed them all for his own power. He presides over a lava-strewn underground lair that is pretty reminiscent of modern Christian depictions of Hell, and it's populated solely by either daemon spawn or damned souls stuck in eternal torture. He even summons other damned souls as ammunition during his boss fight. His magma-based powers and association with snakes (even when he was still an Inquisitor) strengthen the Satanic imagery, as does his eventual transformation into a giant serpent that seeks only to devour. His ambition ended up reducing him to an immobile, pathetic form once he was defeated by the Tarnished.
- Scaled Up: Rykard intentionally allowed himself to be devoured by the God-Devoruing Serpent in a bid to gain more power, enough to kill Tarnished warriors easily and take their bodies to further his own strength. The result is a mangled, absolutely hideous fusion where the serpent remains the dominant being in regard to physical appearance, and Rykard himself looks distorted upon revealing himself.
- Sequential Boss: The God-Devouring Serpent and Rykard share a body, but they're considered two distinct bosses with their own health bars and mostly different move sets. The Serpent mainly attacks with its mouth and poison, and killing it causes Rykard to assume control and fight with his sword and magma-based sorceries.
- Serpent of Immortality: As per his dialogue after the boss fight."No one will hold me captive. A serpent never dies. Ha ha ha..."
- Shout-Out: The monstrous form Rykard has taken as the Lord of Blasphemy (a gigantic, deformed animal which has human features in strange places and was born from a human sacrificing their humanity and followers for power) is the spitting image of an Apostle.
- Signature Move: Taker's Flames, the massive flaming sword slam he always does to end his "rain of skulls" attack. It's the most outwardly impressive move in his arsenal, and is even the unique skill of his Remembrance Weapon, the Blasphemous Blade, allowing the player to use a greatly reduced version of it themselves.
- Snakes Are Sinister: Quite possibly the most overt example ever created. Rykard's personal heraldry was a serpent, and he likened himself to "an ambitious" serpent, who was the cruelest member of his family. And then he found his great rune, merged himself with the God-Devouring Serpent by letting it devour him, bred a race of cruel, torturing Snake People, and became a towering Animalistic Abomination Snake whose spent decades consuming the souls of hundreds, with his final goal being to eat the very gods, followed by the planet itself.
- Snake People: Downplayed; although Rykard and the God-Devouring serpent merge together after the former allows himself to be eaten by the latter, it's the serpent that takes up most of the appearance, with its main human features being that it possesses human limbs. Rykard's face is formed right underneath the serpent's neck and while it does remain humanoid, it's only in the most basic sense; disregarding his dark ambitions and insanity, he's more snake than he is a person.
- Sssssnake Talk: When he talks to the Tarnished, his voice patterns have long, drawn out slurs and moans, much like a snake's hiss. It showcases just how physically and mentally deformed and mangled Rykard is for merging with the God-Devouring Serpent.
- State Sec: Before the Shattering, Rykard was the head of the Inquisition whose job was to capture heretics, dissidents, and rebels opposed to the Golden Order before subjecting them to Cold-Blooded Torture and execution. He was so good at this that his reputation as a demigod was second only to Mohg in how close it was to rock bottom. Curiously enough, the Inquisition seems to have all but disappeared in the wake of Rykard's transformation, leaving behind only one of their number and a few of their relics. It's possible that even they decided that enough was enough and turned tail on their former Praetor.
- Super-Toughness: This is why you absolutely, genuinely need the Serpent-Hunter for the fight against him regardless of your build. He's a Physical God with sky-high health and resistances, and it's your only realistic means of bringing him down outside of the most ludicrously busted endgame gear (and to be honest, it's more efficient against him than most of that). There's a reason the big guy is still alive - if incapacitated - even after you defeat him.
- Thicker Than Water: Despite his power-hungry nature, Rykard seems to be solidly allied with and protective of his full-blooded siblings and mother.
- He has a portrait of Radahn prominently framed in his manor, and his war machines (most notably Abductor Virgins) can be found in Radahn's fiefdom and castle, Caria Manor, where Ranni has secluded herself, and Raya Lucaria's base and courtyard, right in front of the grand library Rennala resides. These machines are coded to be non-hostile to the forces defending the respective areas. Likewise, the entrance to Volcano Manor is defended by several squads of Raya Lucaria's marionette soldiers.
- His subordinates and family, like Patches and Rya, also roam around Liurnia of the Lakes, potentially to deal with any Tarnished who might seek his mother or sister's Great Runes by tempting them to join the Volcano Manor or murdering them.
- He was also entrusted with the Blasphemous Claw from Ranni, a dangerous item meant only to defend himself should Maliketh try to slay him. This means they seemingly cared enough about each other to never use their access to the Rune of Death against the other, even when Rykard succumbed to ravenous God-hunger and Ranni enacted her schemes in full.
- Token Evil Teammate: The only explicitly malevolent member of Radagon's lineage. Even before he became the monstrosity he is now, Rykard was implied to be the most merciless member of the family and used his position as Praetor of the Inquisition with cruel impunity – although this is Downplayed, as his subjects and immediate family seemingly held a high opinion of him even still.
- Torture Technician: All those nightmarish instruments on display in the secret basements of the manor? All inventions of his. Rykard was said to be an utter master at this, and the end results speak for themselves.Inquisitor's Girandole: Its numerous spikes pierce the flesh, then singe the wounds with flame. The smell of burnt blood induces despair in the victim. A candlestick conceived by a thorough mind.
- Übermensch: How his followers originally saw him; a strong figure willing to break with traditional morality and find his own path despite it being blasphemous, for which the Volcano Manor Apparition called him a "worthy sovereign." Post- Great Serpent it's thoroughly averted, as Rykard has become a baser being focused purely on gluttony. Now his old knights just want him dead to stop him from embarrassing the person he once was any further.
- Unholy Matrimony: Tanith is his consort. Evidence indicates that, despite them both being evil, they genuinely love each other. Tanith serves Rykard faithfully and is absolutely shattered upon his death, even consuming his head (which might or might not be still alive) in a desperate effort to bring him back. Rykard is a little more subtle about it, but he gave Tanith a gift with the specific purpose of protecting her adopted daughter from the truth of her birth, which is a surprisingly touching move on his part.
- Uncertain Doom: If the player returns to his boss arena after his defeat, his head can be found, with it seemingly still alive to an extent. Tanith tries to devour it so as to enable him to return through her, but combined with his statement that a "serpent never dies," it's left ambiguous if he is truly dead or not. In any case, he's not doing anything for a good long while.
- The Unintelligible: Downplayed. He's just barely understandable, but his voice is so slurred that the subtitles help a lot with understanding his full speech.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Rykard was one of the few Demigods to occupy a non-combat position prior to the Shattering, showing in how clumsy and unfocused all his strikes with the Blasphemous Blade are. He compensates by leaning heavily on his magma sorcery, constantly surrounding himself with a pool of lava to keep the Tarnished at a distance while throwing out projectiles like flaming skulls or the serpent's venom to distract you from preparing for his other attacks.
- Vestigial Empire: His fiefdom of Gelmir is effectively already gone by the time the game starts. While in his prime he had enough troops to go toe-to-toe with Morgott's Leyndell army in incredibly long and costly battles, by the time the Tarnished awakes he's basically just down to his manor and the immediate surroundings, with the rest of the Gelmir region occupied by the (severely stretched and malnourished) army of Morgott. Said remnant is also being held by an array of cultists and monsters because Rykard's actual army was either attrited to death in the preceding battles or tried to abandon Rykard's cause due to his questionable leadership. The few remnants presumably became the first members of Rykard's "family", judging by all the corpses in his arena.
- Villainous Glutton: This became his defining character trait after merging with the God-Devouring Serpent. As he is now, Rykard exists only to eat, and it's basically the only conscious thought he has left. Such is his insatiable gluttony that he won't stop at simply consuming more and more Tarnished – he seeks to devour the very gods, and once he's run out of them, the world itself. It's not hard to see why he became reviled by his very own knights, who had originally went with their lord down the path of blasphemy out of their own free will.
- Villainous Legacy: Should Zorayas's questline be concluded without giving her the Tonic of Forgetfulness or killing her, she will depart the Volcano Manor with the intent of starting it anew. Since Tanith's goals were entwined with Rykard's, she may be attempting to continue with his plans, though given she was ignorant of his goals and Tanith's role in them, Zorayas's exact intent is left ambiguous.
- We Can Rule Together: Tells the player Tarnished to join him, so as to devour the gods together. Quickly subverted as it becomes apparent that "joining him" refers to letting him devour them so he can take their power for himself.
- World's Strongest Man: Whilst he technically lags behind most other of his kin in terms of damage and poise (the actual title-holder is probably Malenia, pre-Rot Radahn, pre-Destined Death sealed Maliketh or Godfrey), he's most certainly the World's Toughest Man. Even his first phase has a little more HP than the next contender, the Fire Giant, and his second phase has even more. This toughness, along with his arena's lava pool, allows him to punch way above his weight class, and the only way the player Tarnished can make the fight even remotely fair is to use the Serpent-Hunter. This makes sense, since the reason he tried to take over the God-Devouring Serpent in the first place was to gain enough power to kill all the other demigods. If he'd enough time, and enough people to consume, his size would have increased enough to consume the entire planet, every other contender for the title with it and possibly the Outer Gods, if they were indeed his intended targets. That is, had the Tarnished not gotten him.
Lunar Princess, Ranni the Witch

- Voiced by: Aimee-Ffion Edwards
A mysterious Demigod and princess of Caria, daughter to Queen Rennala and Queen Marika's stepdaughter. Unlike the other demigods, Ranni does not seem to have much overt interest in the civil war and succession crisis of the Shattering, instead plotting to pursue her own unknown agenda, one in which she is keen on having the Tarnished assist her...
Beware of unmarked spoilers
- Action Girl: As shown by her fight with the Tarnished after they attempted to kill her mother, she is a powerful witch with an array of magical spells at her command. A notable display of her power is casting an illusion of her mother at her peak that is capable of fighting the Tarnished with powerful spells and summons. If the Tarnished helps her retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade, she manages to kill her Two Fingers in what's implied to be a pretty big fight between them offscreen. She can also One-Hit Kill the Tarnished regardless of stats should they attempt to trick her into taking Seluvis's potion. Though this is implied to be because of a trap specific to her tower, as she noticeably can't do this anywhere else; if you screw over her centuries-long plan by attacking her in the "wedding" for example, she only runs away and leaves you to do whatever you want. Even before the Shattering, she defeated the dragon Adula in single combat — a dragon infamous for devouring sorcerers like her.
- Adaptational Comic Relief: In the manga, Ranni's entire mystical and otherworldly ice witch persona is shown to be a lot more of an act, as she's actually a bit of a petulant Spoiled Brat who expects Aseo to immediately trust her with very little reason and loses her patience quickly when he doesn't. Also, whenever she fades into dust at the end of conversations she's actually just hiding in a bush.
- Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed, courtesy of Lost in Translation. In the English localization while her overall end goals are still the same, the sheer vagueness of her intentions makes her come across as somewhat more sinister compared to her Japanese dialogue. Ranni's plans regarding her "Age of Stars" in the Japanese version has Ranni be a little clearer on the subject, specifying that she wants to do away with the Golden Order and all that came before it, essentially wiping the slate clean so as to allow everyone to determine their own fate free of interference.
- Affably Evil: 'Evil' is arguable, though she definitely doesn't have clean hands. But her affection for her compatriots and, if you progress her questline, the Tarnished, is completely genuine. She's also completely on the level with you, working for her won't result in her betraying you (unlike the Volcano Manor, where joining just gets you fed to Rykard after Tanith deems you strong enough), and she will never become hostile unless you attack first. If you exhaust her dialogue and then choose her ending, she'll call you her "dear consort", and if you betray her, she'll be utterly heartbroken.
- Affectionate Nickname: Ranni starts to address the Tarnished as her 'dear' once you progress into her questline far enough.
- Allegorical Character: Like several of the members of her family, Ranni represent a stage of the development of rulers throughout history. In particular she represents the inevitable rebellion that happens to all aristocratic states, that fight to free themselves of rulers "chosen by god" in favor of those chosen by the people or, as they are usually portrayed, a fight for freedom. Regardless if the fight will harm innocent people or not or if it will plunge their nation to war as it often happens in history.
- All for Nothing: Possibly. Should you choose not to pick her ending, all of her scheming, the murder of her brother, and all the sacrifices she has to make through her questline fail to achieve her Age of the Stars, as ultimately the Tarnished either brings about a different Age or burns the world down with the Frenzied Flame. However, Ranni does appear to succeed in breaking free from the influence of the Two Fingers by slaying her own Empyrean Flesh, and once she's given the Fingerslayer Blade, she willingly gives the Tarnished access to the Cursemark of Death that enables the Age of the Duskborn, so it is possible that she may accept an Age other than her own.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: The skin of the doll she's inhabiting has a faint blue tint to it. While it's unknown if the witch she modeled after also had this skintone, the doll's coloration strengthens her connection with her mother, Rennala, who specializes in light-blue colored glintstone magic.
- Ambiguously Evil: While there's an undeniably sinister and ruthless side to her, especially in regards to her role in the Shattering, Ranni seems to genuinely believe her cause will improve the Lands Between and free the people from the shackles of fate. It's up to the player to decide if her ideals and plans have genuine merit. The potential merit of her goals is an even greater question following the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, as a multitude of revelations throughout the expansion's story and lore not only makes clear Godhood is a terrible cage to be trapped within, but that also the Two Fingers - of which her primary motives were to escape being enslaved to them - were not acting in accord with the Greater Will itself, but rather its abandoned daughter, Metyr, the Mother of Fingers, something she may have even been aware of, given her justification for her deeds were that she wouldn't be controlled by 'that thing'.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- While Ranni's role in stealing a portion of Destined Death from Maliketh cannot be disputed, and she definitely used it to kill her own flesh and blood body, it's her role in Night of the Black Knives and Godwyn's murder which remains a mystery. Sorcerer Rogier believes she commands the Black Knife assassins responsible, and defeating the Black Knife assassins in their catacombs drops the Black Knifeprint, which goes on to mention the one who stole the fragment of Death was also responsible for imbuing its power to the daggers used by Black Knife assassins. Meeting Ranni through following Rogier's questline has her openly admit she did so. However, Rogier is Entertainingly Wrong about both the origins of the assassins and Ranni's main objective (killing her own physical body), and it becomes apparent the Black Knife assassins answer only to Queen Marika and Golden Order, and in fact fiercely target Ranni and her followers for defying the Order. All of these details bring forth several questions: Did Ranni steal Death out of her own initiative, or did Queen Marika/her Two Fingers order her to so the Black Knife assassins can obtain a weapon to kill Godwyn? Did she know the assassins were after Godwyn beforehand? Did she intentionally divide the stolen portion of Death so the assassins would only have half its cursemark knowing it would not fully kill Godwyn? Or did she solely divide it just to get the half that would kill her in body?
- If The Future Press guide is to be believed, it states she herself orchestrated Godwyn's murder
◊- though it should be taken with a grain of salt, as the Night of Black Knives being specifically to murder Godwyn contradicts Ranni's own claim that her primary goal was to slay her flesh-and-blood body. Assuming that she did indeed plot his murder, however, this raises another question: why did she do so? Was it necessary to slay Godwyn's soul in order to slay her own body? Was it an act of spite against Marika? Was it simply a tactical option to kill the powerful and beloved prince of the Golden Lineage to help further her goal of upending the Golden Order? Or was it some other reason? - As of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, did Ranni know that the Two Fingers were not acting in accord with the Greater Will, but rather its abandoned daughter, Metyr, the Mother of Fingers? It's worth noting that Caria Manor is currently swarming with hostile Fingercreepers, who are also the progeny of Metyr. Moreover, Ranni's justification for her deeds were that she wouldn't be controlled by "that thing", and she herself never actually mentions the Greater Will itself.
- Ambiguously Related: While the extent of her relationship with Melina is unknown, they're close enough the latter informs her the Tarnished Player Character is Torrent's new master. The two also share the same claw-like tattoo, albeit on different eyes with Melina's mark on her left eye and Ranni's on her right. It should also be noted that Ranni's current body is modeled after her teacher Renna, which raises the question of whether the mark belongs to her or Renna.
- Animal Motif: Wolves. Her chief retainer is a Wolf Man, she has heavy Lunacy themes, her tower is surrounded by packs of Wolves, the mysterious and otherworldly white Direwolves prowl around her manor, and the Carian Royal Family symbol is a howling wolf.
- The Archmage: One of the most magically powerful demigods, and with the impairment of similarly-powerful sorcerers like Rennala, Radahn, Rykard, and Miquella, she's implied to be the best still-active magic wielder in the Lands Between. For example, her projection alone is a full sorcery-based boss battle. Then, unlike Fia, Mohg, Shabriri, and the Fire Giant, who require grave and countless sacrifices to draw some power from the Outer Gods they worship, she can instantly summon the Dark Moon and envelop the Lands Between in its influence by herself after dying a second time, once she's released from Radahn's virtual shackles.
- Badass Adorable: Very delicate and easy on the eyes, especially compared to many of her more monstrous siblings. But of course she's still a demigod and shouldn't be underestimated. The Tarnished gets a taste of this themselves when she steps in to fight in place of her mother. If you try to force Seluvis's potion on her she will also instant-kill the Tarnished regardless of their level, though this might be restricted to her tower as she does not do this anywhere else. After the stars are freed and with Fingerslayer Blade at hand, she slays a lone Two Fingers offscreen, albeit in a Mutual Kill.
- Badass Boast: Her line against the Tarnished before assuming the form of Rennala to strike them down."Upon my name as Ranni the Witch, Mother's rich slumber shall not be disturbed by thee. Foul trespasser. Send word far and wide of the last Queen of Caria, Rennala of the Full Moon, and the majesty of the night she conjureth."
- She gets another good one when you confront the Baleful Shadow in Ainsel River."Tell the Two Fingers, that Ranni the Witch cometh to rend thy flesh. With a fateful wound, ne'er to heal."
- She gets another good one when you confront the Baleful Shadow in Ainsel River.
- Bait-and-Switch: As her mother isn't really in any condition to fight the Tarnished, she does it in her stead.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Quite literally, in her case. Ranni's doll body appears to be a highly customized marionette soldier's body, given she has four arms not unlike them. Her clothes-less form seen in the Moonlight Altar completely lacks both primary and secondary sexual characteristics, with everything other than her head, neck, lower arms, and legs being a tangled mess of exposed cables and wires woven into a humanoid form beneath a simple, unadorned ceramic shell.
- Benevolent Boss: She's always very courteous to the Tarnished and cares greatly for Blaidd and Iji, seeing the latter two more as family than as her underlings.
- BFS: She doesn't use one as she relies on sorcery as seen in her boss fight as "Rennala", but the end of her questline sees her gift the Dark Moon Greatsword to the Tarnished. The Dark Moon Greatsword is the Moonlight Greatsword of Elden Ring, and according to its flavor text, it's given to the consort of Carian royalty, as is per tradition.
- Big Sister Instinct: Inverted according to the Japanese text; Ranni is actually the youngest of her siblings. But after stealing a fragment of the Rune of Death, she gave Rykard the Blasphemous Claw to protect him from Maliketh's wrath should he be hunted by him.
- Body Backup Drive: It is explicitly stated by Ranni herself the body the Tarnished converses with is not her true one, referred to by her as a "doll". Ranni killed her own physical body during the Night of the Black Knives, at the same time the Black Knives killed Godwyn, and her heavily-damaged corpse can be found at the top of Liurnia's Divine Tower.
- Body Horror: Her doll body is definitely not in the best of shape at the end of her questline, being horrifically cracked and broken away, revealing what seems to be twine stuffing underneath what's left of whatever counts as her skin. The corpse of her physical body is found at the top of Liurnia's Divine Tower, charred black from where she used the Rune of Death to destroy it.
- Breaking Old Trends: To the stereotypical female witch characters in FromSoftware's games past, particularly Yuria (Demon's Souls) and Karla (Dark Souls III):
- Appearance wise, they always wear black, worn-out and tattered outfits, while Ranni wears the all-white and delicate Snow Witch Set. They're always presented sprawling and sitting down on the ground, while Ranni's seating position is always placed higher than the Player Character's eye level or simply standing about.
- They're transported to their respective games' Hub Level after a simple find-and-talk requirement, while Ranni never enters the Roundtable Hold due to her feud with the Two Fingers, requiring the Tarnished to travel to her location instead. Gameplay-wise, they're dedicated sorcery teachers to the Player Character, with plenty of options for you to purchase and learn; Ranni doesn't teach you a shred of magic, and the skills she uses in combat are obtained from someone else or found in certain locations.
- Lore-wise, they're traditional Sidequests which start and end shortly, with generally simple and short missions. Ranni's questline spans the entire game. Also, they're usually of humble background, while Ranni is a demigod and royalty. Learning from them is portrayed as 'mutual learning' with the Player Character as you bring them items, but while Ranni is clearly at the peak of her skill, Elden Ring dedicates the task of teaching you magic to other NPCs.
- Cain and Abel: She stole the Rune of Death which was used to both slay Godwyn's soul and Ranni's body.
- Character Tic: She's fond of tenting her upper arms' fingers together when she's speaking to anyone. The only time she doesn't do so is when she's confronting Marika in the Age of the Stars ending... as well as when she's presenting her hand to the Tarnished in marriage.
- Childhood Friends: With Blaidd, who had been by her side since they were children. They’re so close the Carians considered them siblings despite the lack of blood relation — Iji describes him as Ranni’s stepbrother, and Rennala calls Blaidd “my child” in cut dialogue for her boss fight.
- The Chosen One: She was one of the Empyreans, the three potential successors to Marika chosen by a Two Fingers as the future rulers of the Lands Between. She rejected her role as one by killing her original body with the Rune of Death's power.
- The Comically Serious: There's often a significant gap between her cold, regal demeanour and the goofy situations you find her in, like sitting on a stack of books to make herself taller or stuck underground inside a tiny, helpless doll. It helps to make her more endearing, befitting someone who's introduced to you as a sinister mastermind but can instead become a Romance Sidequest.
- Cute Witch: Compared to the other Demigods who consist mostly of towering and hardened warriors, Ranni is very petite and with few hard edges to her design, and her specialty is magic rather than physical prowess. The former makes her come off as much more cute and approachable a being in a world full of horrifying monsters, you know, assuming it's not just an act. It is implied that she was much more physically imposing when she was in her original body.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Dark Sun Gwyndolin. Both are powerful wizards associated with the moon and among the few members of the land's royalty to have not succumbed to raving madness. While Gwyndolin was abused for his affinity for lunar magic, upheld his father's doomed kingdom in an attempt to prove himself worthy of his family's love, and treated the members of his Covenant as a means to an end. Ranni was born into the revered position of an Empyrean, eventually grew disgusted with her stepmother's empire to the point she enabled the plot that brought about its destruction, and truly cherishes the small circle of allies who have sworn themselves to making her vision a reality.
- Daddy's Girl: Completely inverted. Ranni is deathly protective of her birth mother, Rennala, and judging from some lore implications, she and Marika are close enough to conspire the Rune of Death's theft together, marking Ranni as one of the few characters who knows parts of Marika's plan (the other being Maliketh, Radagon, Godfrey, and Melina). Even in the "Age of Stars" ending, when she supplants her stepmother as the next ruler, her treatment of Marika's broken body is nothing but tender. In contrast, her relationship with her father, Radagon, may as well be non-existent compared to her brothers, Radahn and Rykard.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Ranni is heavily associated with darkness, witchcraft, and the night in general, and the Outer God she's associated with is the Moon; despite this, she espouses the virtues of free will and champions freedoms, and her ending is one that Melina will support. This is heavily contrasted with the Light Is Not Good Frenzied Flame, whose ending Melina will not support.
- Darkhorse Victory: Following her questline will lead to her coming out on top of the entire Shattering, outliving potentially all of her siblings and overthrowing the Golden Order in favor of a new age headed by her and the Tarnished.
- Deep Sleep: After granting the first mission of her questline to the Tarnished, her doll body enters a slumbering state, leaving her unresponsive if the Tarnished tries to speak with her until her quest has progressed. Her dialogue implies that this is a regular occurrence as a side-effect of inhabiting her artificial body."I shall soon enter my slumber. And it will be some time before I wake. This doll's body is not without its hindrances..."
- Defrosting Ice Queen: In varying degrees, depending on how you start and how you finish her quest. If you come to her with no ulterior motive and swear to serve her, she warms up to you rather quickly, sincerely thanking you after you give her the Fingerkiller blade and only becoming more impressed as you doggedly follow her through to the end of her destiny. If you come to her following Rogier's lead, however, she'll (perhaps rightfully) believe you are only serving her in return for the location of her death rune (though she doesn't say it's a bad thing); her goodbye after giving over the Fingerkiller blade is much more formal, as she believes you have your own opposing design for the Elden Ring, and will only really start to become fond of you after you kill the Baleful Shadow for her.
- Regardless of how you start her quest, she will be fond of the Tarnished by the end of it. If you've spoken with her thoroughly, including a secret conversation in her tower's chamber at the end, she'll seem to be genuinely affectionate towards the Tarnished, referring to them as "dear" to her in the ending.
- Deity of Human Origin: She is the birth child of the sorceress-queen Rennala and Radagon, who later became an Elden Lord by marrying Queen Marika. When this occurred, Ranni was elevated to the status of a demigod and by the time of the story is no longer human — having killed her physical body and possessed a doll. She can become a God-Emperor herself and the new Top God by succeeding Marika in the "Age of the Stars" ending.
- Deuteragonist: Though you can complete the game without even meeting Ranni, she has the most involved sidequest in the entire game, is connected to several other NPCs, sends the Tarnished to the Nokron and Nokstella optional areas, has huge relevance to the games' lore, and even factors into her own, unique ending. To top it all off, she gifts the Dark Moon Greatsword at the end of her sidequest, Elden Ring's version of the Moonlight Greatsword.
- Disappointed in You: Beyond merely being furious and disgusted should you attempt to betray her by going along with Seluvis' scheme Ranni is genuinely surprised and saddened, having thought better of you.
- Dispel Magic: Ranni's Dark Moon, like Rennala's Full Moon, is a sorcery that dispels any sorcery it touches, in addition to inflicting magic and frostbite damage and causing a magic damage debuff.
- Don't Make Me Destroy You: Through following Preceptor Seluvis' goal of trying to make Ranni their plaything she will notice what's going at the last second, before the Tarnished can ever succeed in administering the Amber Draught on her; by that point, Ranni will cut ties with them, ordering the Tarnished to leave her presence and never come back. However, if you make the Tarnished try to force a conversation with Ranni over and over again, not heeding her following warnings, she will have enough of it, killing the Tarnished instantly through unknown means.
- Dub Personality Change: The English version makes her ultimate goal sound far more sinister than it's originally written. In English, she makes it sound like her Order will be one where things like touch, faith and emotions would become, in her words 'impossibilities'. In actuality, as written in the original Japanese, Ranni wants to create an Order and raise herself to godhood so she can distance that Order, and herself, from the world. In fact, this is how the previously mentioned line is directly translated from Japanese:Ranni: Even if life and souls are one with the order, it (the order) could be kept far away. If it was not possible to clearly see, feel, believe in, or touch the order… That would be better.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Ranni will likely be the first demigod encountered in the opening hours of the game, introducing herself under the name Renna, at the Church of Elleh if proper steps are taken. The full gravity and implications of this meeting — as well as her true identity — will not be made clear until much later in the game.
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Easily Forgiven:- Should you follow her questline after beating Rennala, Ranni seems to treat the Tarnished attacking her mother unprovoked as a thing of the past. It's not made clear if the spell she casts to protect the Carian queen was a conscious decision or it was a trap she left that triggered without her input, meaning she might not even be aware it happened in the first place. The latter interpretation is supported by the fact that she won't even mention if you attack her mother after agreeing to work with her either.
- Completely averted if you actually do end up betraying her, be it by attacking her at specific points in her questline where you're allowed to do it, or by helping Seluvis drug her, in which case she'll completely cut ties with you and the sidequest will become unavailable for that playthrough.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: While her overall morality is debatable there is no mistake Ranni clearly loves her birth-mother Rennala. When Rennala is defeated in her first phase, Ranni hijacks the fight and conjures an illusion of her mother in her prime to protect her.
- Everyone Has Standards: While Seluvis is part of her retinue, she clearly dislikes him, and he's only tolerated because his puppetry magic was necessary for her to create her doll body. And since giving Ranni the Fingerslayer Blade and allowing her to move forward with her plans triggers Seluvis's death, it's likely she disposed of him the moment he wasn't needed.
- The Evils of Free Will: Inverted, because she is all for them. Ranni's ultimate goal is to separate the "order" which governs the world, causality and all souls so it won't cast such a strong shadow on the destinies of all beings (the very fundamentals of Golden Order itself), which will allow everyone to be the master of their own fates. She acknowledges removing the Golden Order and giving all living souls agency will still cause suffering, as without the certainty from the guidance of a higher power, many will despair in the face of absolute uncertainty; but she believes it is better than the Age of the Erdtree as a whole.
- Extremely Protective Child: She won't let the Tarnished kill her mother and will fight them in her stead as Rennala's second phase, taking her mother's form.
- Eye Scream: Her right eye is always closed for unexplained reasons. It also has a similar claw-like mark Melina's left eye does.
- Facial Markings: Ranni has glowing blue tattoo-like markings under her right eye, which only appear while the spectral mirror of her face is "active". Curiously, it almost matches Melina's own, albeit on opposite eyes.
- Fan Disservice: She's shown naked during her "wedding" scene at the end of her quest line but it's not exactly an eroticized moment. Ranni's doll body is old, brittle, and cracked, with most of her torso and legs being exposed wire and twine, and even the design itself is an anatomically simple framework like a cheap wooden artist's mannequin that was clearly not designed to be visible outside the face and hands.
- Fiery Redhead: Inverted. Her doll body has blue hair and she's very stoic, or at least tries to do so. Her original body, which can still be found at the top of the Divine Tower of Liurnia, has been so ravaged by time and the elements you can barely tell she has any hair left. And yes, it was red, no doubt inherited from her father.
- Flowery Elizabethan English: Constantly speaks like this, including use of antiquated vocabulary like saying "ne'er" instead of "never".
- Foil:
- To Melina, as a fellow main female character in Elden Ring:
- Both are mentioned to be "bodiless", but Melina maintained the ability to shift between spectral and corporeal form similar to Torrent, while Ranni relies entirely on inhabiting her doll body. Melina prefers simple, hardy travelling clothes with dark, sombre colors with a hood to cover her face, while Ranni always wears the regal and white-themed Snow Witch Set, which has a large hat to do the same job.
- Melina is synonymous with light, fire, and the Erdtree, symbolized by her proximity to the various Sites of Graces and her light-based, Magic Knight fighting style. Ranni personifies the night's darkness, ice, and the Dark Moon, while "fighting" only with illusions, long-range and large-scale sorceries... plus One-Hit Kill spell traps aimed at you should you attempt to drug her.
- Melina acts as your supporting crew member throughout your journey, while Ranni tasks you with supporting her in her complicated plans to overthrow the established order.
- Melina strives to restore the Golden Order, willing to compromise with any acceptable method you choose (bar the "Frenzied Flame" ending) and sacrifice herself for the greater whole. Meanwhile, Ranni's questline is heavily-laden with shades of an ambitious, vengeful, and rebellious desire to smash apart the established rules and set her own, while her final sacrifice felt more like simply spiting the Two Fingers who'd controlled her whole life.
- Melina serves as your most constant companion throughout your journey and is arguably the character you spend the most time around yet, little is known about her own past and personal thoughts on certain matters within the Lands Between and its current state. Meanwhile, Ranni is someone who goes out of her way to make herself scarce around the Player Character and others due to her current circumstances but is very willing to reveal her motivations and plans for the future, including why she's doing what she's doing due to her history.
- Their "death" scenes are opposites of each other. Melina does so in the open, witnessed and accompanied by the Tarnished, setting herself and the Erdtree's thorns ablaze. Ranni chose a secluded, dark and cold final resting place, with no one around her and her companions having either died, been killed, or sent away (you) prior to the Final Duel, with her corpse lying in already-cold blood.
- To Melina, as a fellow main female character in Elden Ring:
- Formerly Friendly Family: While Ranni loves her birth mother Rennala to death (and seemingly gets along with Marika well enough), she considers Blaidd and Iji to be her real family, instead of her brothers Rykard whose territory is directly north of Liurnia, or Radahn who's off campaigning in Caelid in the southeast. You can be the newest addition to her 'family', too, if you complete her questline.
- Gay Option: An odd case in which she, and technically Marika, are the only romance options, regardless of the Tarnished's gender. She does use slightly different dialogue depending on the Tarnished's gender, though her actual sexual preference is never elaborated upon.
- God-Emperor: Becomes this in the "Age of the Stars" ending by succeeding Marika and taking the Tarnished as her eternal consort.
- Godhood Seeker: While Ranni initially slew her own flesh-and-blood body to avoid walking "the Empyrean Path" chosen for her by the Two Fingers, she ends up walking it anyway in the "Age of the Stars" ending — albeit on her own terms, slaying the Two Fingers and usurping Marika's status as the divine ruler of the Lands Between.
- Graceful Loser: Possibly. Ranni envisions her own Age of the Stars, but if the player has progressed Rogier's questline before hers, she will knowingly allow the Tarnished to enter her service with the covert purpose of obtaining the Cursemark of Death. If the Tarnished gives her the Fingerslayer Blade, she will grant the Tarnished access to her body that bears the Cursemark of Death, which will allow for the Age of the Duskborn. Ranni says she "can fathom what thy purpose might be," so it is possible that she considers this Age to be an acceptable alternative to her own, and is willing to settle for obtaining the Fingerslayer Blade.
- Happily Married: Depending on how close she becomes to the Tarnished, Ranni's interactions with the Tarnished vary from cordial to slightly warm if her entire sidequest and dialogue options are triggered and exhausted. The end of her questline sees the Tarnished slipping the Dark Moon Ring on her damaged doll body's finger, and she accepts the proposal. If the questline is completed without exhausting her dialogue and the "Age of the Stars" ending is picked, she refers to the Tarnished as her "fair consort", whereas exhausting her dialogue has her affectionately call them her "dear consort".
- Height Angst: It's subtly implied that she resents her doll body's average height compared to her far taller original body's. Both in when the player first encounters her at Kalé's church, and in her tower in Caria, she's sitting on things that make her look taller (a crumbled wall and a stack of books respectively)
- Hidden Depths: Ranni has a few moments showing she's not as cold or regal as she likes to present herself.
- When she's in her Rise, closer look
reveals she piles books on her chair as to appear taller than she really is, a quirk which was first hinted when you met her for the first time in the Church of Elleh where she sits on top of a broken section of the wall. - In Ainsel River, she sounds almost embarrassed when the Tarnished found her small doll form and kept talking to her even when she feigned silence. She also gets surprisingly talkative (you can practically talk to her in every new grace you found in Ainsel River), and at one point even ponders to include the Tarnished in her list of "really kind people" before hastily asking the Tarnished to forget she ever said that, blaming her loose lips on her current small form.
- When she's in her Rise, closer look
- Homosexual Reproduction: Sort of. As a demigod, she is considered a child of Marika, but she is also very close with her biological mother Rennala. With the reveal of Radagon and Marika sharing a body, it's possible both her mothers are in fact her biological parents.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Ranni's doll body is visibly shorter compared to everyone else in her service. While the height difference between her and the Tarnished and Seluvis (both of whom are in the 5.5-6 ft tall range) is more realistic, it becomes exaggerated when comparing her to Blaidd, who's around 8-9 feet in height, and Iji, who's about as tall as a two-story building... and let's not even get started about comparing her with Adulla. It doesn't stop there, as she gets even tinier once she shrinks down to the size of a doll which can fit neatly within the Tarnished's pocket. And while the corpse of her true body is noticeably taller than her doll form, in Morgott's cutscene, her designated throne is absolutely tiny when compared to all of her siblings, even to Miquella who's supposed to be cursed with eternal childhood.
- Funnily enough, this trope also applies when comparing her with her immediate family members. Her mother is already twice as large as her, while her brothers, Radahn and Rykard, are even multiple times larger than that. It seems while she inherits her mother's talent in magic and association with the Dark Moon, Radagon only passed on his red hair and some degree of his martial prowess.
- An Ice Person: Ranni has an affinity for the cold, as shown by weapons and spells associated with her (chiefly among them the Dark Moon Greatsword) causing frost buildup and her attire being named the Snow Witch set.
- Identity Impersonator: Downplayed. If the Tarnished meets Ranni at the Church of Elleh at night, she'll introduce herself under the alias Renna. The flavor text for the Snow Witch armor reveals Ranni had a teacher of the same name, and her doll body was crafted in Renna's likeness rather than Ranni's original body; a curious thing to take note of, since the doll body was made by Seluvis and his puppets match the origin of the body flawlessly. She only uses her Renna alias once, as the next time the Tarnished runs into her she will give her actual name.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Ranni has made many decisions that are morally questionable at best in her quest to enact the Age of the Stars, but claims no remorse for them as she feels they were necessary to free the world from the Two Fingers and the Golden Order.
- Immune to Fate: Ranni's ultimate goal is to completely break free of the Golden Order so she can properly ascend as the Dark Moon's vassal. Killing her flesh-and-blood body (which was especially attuned to the Golder Order as one of Marika's children) and moving her soul to a doll has allowed her to accomplish this partially, but she needs to slay the set of Two Fingers who first marked her as an Empyrean to fully break the connection.
- Ineffectual Loner: Ranni tries to complete her journey alone twice with the Tarnished still lending a hand when she gets stuck. The first time she is quite annoyed by it, but the second time she implicitly left a way for the Tarnished to help her despite her saying the contrary.
- Ironic Echo: "What hopest thou to profit?" Ranni will say this line whenever the Tarnished attacks her. If this happens at the Church of Elleh, one of the earliest locations you can go to, it's mostly Played for Laughs, as Ranni will simply dismiss the Tarnished as a wild ruffian before teleporting away. But if you do so after completing her long and involved Romance Sidequest, it's obviously Played for Drama as the Tarnished has just betrayed her after promising to be her consort, and Ranni vanishes heartbroken.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ranni can come off initially as secretive and cold towards the Tarnished, treating them as a tool for her plans and eviscerating them for talking to her in miniature doll form, mainly stemming from the fact she was resolved to finish her journey by herself and the Tarnished doggedly followed her. However, throughout the course of her questline, she is shown to care a great deal for Blaidd, Iji, and potentially the Tarnished themself should they prove loyal to her. In spite of her Ambiguously Evil nature, she also seems to sincerely believe her plans will improve the lot of everyone, freeing them from the machinations of the Two Fingers and the Golden Order.
- Karma Houdini: Assuming you see her quest line to the end, she not only gets away with all of her misdeeds without any real repercussions, compared to her siblings and stepmother, who can all die for their actions if the player chooses to go after them, but she also gets a strong and loyal consort out of it. Heck, even if you don't pursue Ranni's quest line, nothing that indicates any karma being dealt to her happens. The worst the player can do is betray her and make her angry or sad.
- Kill the God: Part of Ranni's endgame is to kill the Two Fingers, the divine emissaries of the Golden Order, and to this end she sends the Tarnished to obtain an Immortal Breaker weapon. The reason she stole part of the Death Rune was to kill her own Semi-Divine body in an attempt to sunder herself from the destiny the Two Fingers had chosen for her.
- Lady and Knight: Beginning her questline requires the Tarnished swear fealty to her, becoming the "Knight" to her Dark Lady. While the Tarnished might not literally be a Knight, the spirit of it remains.
- And of course she already has this dynamic with Blaidd who proudly serves as her shadow.
- Before the Tarnished came around, Glintstone Dragon Adulla also swore fealty to her as her knight, and even possesses their very own nifty spell as an emblem of said pledge.
- Large Runt: Her actual body is much taller than her doll one, easily dwarfing a normal human adult, but is among the shortest demigods, only surpassing Miquella in height. Even her (mostly) human mother Rennala was taller than she was in her original body.
- Last of Her Kind: Thanks to Plot Armor, and assuming you do all the bosses, by the end of both the main game and the DLC she'll be the last of the Demigods who survives the Tarnished's warpath throughout the Lands Between.
- Leave No Witnesses: After orchestrating the Night of the Black Knives and handing the assassins the enchanted daggers, Ranni betrays them and has their ringleader, Alecto, locked up in an evergaol in a highly obscure spot that only Ranni can reach. It's never stated why, but the most likely reason is that, as the assassins' leader, Alecto would know the real identity of the plot's mastermind and could spill it if she were captured or simply decided to change sides. Ranni's whereabouts and involvement are supposed to be a secret, and she's seemingly trying to pass herself off as a victim of the assassins like Godwyn and the other targets (hence why she disguises herself as "Renna" to the Tarnished and adopts a doll body that looks nothing like her real one), so Alecto has to go.
- Lost in Translation: The Age of Stars ending. In the English version, Ranni's wording and description of her world order implies she wants to do away with Marika's Golden Order and wipe the slate clean, though without this context, her age of the stars, a "thousand year voyage into fear, doubt, and loneliness" makes it come off more sinister. In the Japanese version, Ranni's world order is more concrete and wants to free the world from the Golden Order's influence.
- Love Interest: Getting The Age of Stars ending requires the Tarnished to marry her and become her consort.
- Lunacy: Her title is the "Lunar Princess" and she's proficient with Glintstone magic, a style heavily associated with Cosmic Motifs. The second phase of her battle is steeped in lunar imagery, which is fitting since she's using the image of her mother, who's known as the Queen of the Full Moon.
- Mage Tower: Her main base of operations is Ranni's Rise, a large tower enveloped with glintstone, situated on the westernmost point of the Three Sisters.
- Magic Knight: Not onscreen unfortunately, but it's implied she hold some skill as a swordswoman on top of her vast sorcery prowess, having presumably both the Fingerslayer Blade and Glintstone Sorceries when she slew her Two Fingers.
- Man Behind the Man: It was her who stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh and gifted it to the Black Knife Assassins, allowing them to slay Godwyn and beginning the Shattering.
- Marionette Master: The body she inhabits in front of the Tarnished is actually an advanced marionette animated by her soul, much like the Marionette soldi you encounter all over Liurnia.
- Meaningful Name: In Sanskrit, the name "Rani" means "queen". Ranni aims to ascend the throne, albeit on her own terms and not of the Golden Order's.
- Mirror Character:
- Ranni is a potential ally to the Tarnished with many similarities and contrasting traits to Miquella, the main antagonist of Shadow of the Erdtree.
- Both are demigod Empyreans who seek to bring about a thousand year age, but while Ranni may succeed by allying with the Tarnished, Miquella is eventually thwarted and defeated by them.
- Both are spellcasters who work mostly though agents and use powerful magic when they do need to act personally, but where Miquella wields incantations that summon beams of light, Ranni is a sorceress strongly associated with the dark.
- Ranni stole the Rune of Death and used it to enchant the Black Knives weapons, enabling them to slay her half-brother Godwyn's soul and her own body. Miquella sent Malenia to kill his half-brother Radahn and fulfill a "vow" that he would be his consort while arranging for Mohgh to kidnap him and gain entrance to the land of Shadow.
- Ranni has loyal followers like Iji, Blaidd, and possibly the Tarnished who willingly choose to serve her. Miquella bewitches people into following him, some of whom like Ansbach are outright Reforged into a Minion, and even those truly loyal like Leda have their tendencies kept in check via enchantment. Notably, both Ranni and Miquella eventually lose all their followers to death, aside from possibly the Tarnished for Ranni, though the fate of their companions differ; Blaidd's "programming" as a shadowbound beast goes haywire when his directives conflict with his personal desire to stay by Ranni's side and has to be killed, whereas Iji dies fighting Golden Order assassins. At least half of Miquella's followers can die fighting the Tarnished in defense of their lord, with the only outliers being the Hornsent (who can die invading the Tarnished) and Moore (who you can convince to commit suicide).
- Both are Well Intentioned Extremists, but with opposing philosophies. Ranni champions freedom and seeks to end the influence of the Two Fingers, and in contrast to the Golden Order, the Age of the Stars will place her new order at a great remove from the world while removing the influence of all other orders that came before it. Miquella's Age of Compassion is implied to be a genuine utopia ruled by him, but at the cost of free will.
- The Tarnished of No Renown can become Ranni's consort by pursuing her questline from start to finish, and if you fully exhaust her dialogue, Ranni will be more affectionate with them in the Age of Stars ending and refer to them as her "dear consort, eternal". Miquella and Radahn made a "vow" where the latter promised to become Miquella's consort, and the vow is fulfilled in their final boss fight.
- Ranni acts cold and distant, but can grow genuine affections for the Tarnished, potentially referring to them as her "dear consort, eternal" in the Age of the Stars ending under certain conditions. Miquella was shown to once be a kind and loving individual, but quite literally abandons his love by casting away St. Trina.
- On a minor note, in his boss fight alongside Radahn, Miquella is shown to possess two extra arms (formed from magic) like Ranni's doll form.
- She is one to Fia the Deathbed Companion in the sense that both of them are mysterious women clad in robes who engage with the Tarnished, are two of the most enigmatic individuals the player can stumble across and have questlines whose endings can allow the Tarnished to obtain an alternate ending. The two are motivated by their hatred towards the Golden Order for severely limiting their ambitions and posing discrimination against them and they establish an affectionate relationship with the Tarnished as their questlines progress, culminating in a tender, bittersweet final conversation at the end. For extra points, Ranni's corpse at the top of Liurnia's Divine Tower holds one half of the Hallowbrand that Fia needs in order to gestate and give birth to a Mending Rune of her own design.
- Ranni is a potential ally to the Tarnished with many similarities and contrasting traits to Miquella, the main antagonist of Shadow of the Erdtree.
- Momma's Girl: She cares greatly for her mother Rennala, enough that she won't allow the Tarnished to battle Rennala, instead adopting her mother's appearance to fight in her place.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Her doll form has two sets of arms. As her original body displays only two, it's assumed that the additional limbs were another of the unusual traits that her witch mentor had.
- Mundane Utility: She's highly talented in Summon Magic, and one of the things she's shown using it for is to call spectral projections of her retainers to her tower to discuss strategy and host general meetings, such as when she introduces the player to her service.
- Mutual Kill: Her battle against her Two Fingers, Ranni ends up destroying her doll body in the last fight against her nemesis; presenting the Dark Moon Ring to Ranni by then is the only way to save her.
- Mythology Gag: Her appearance as a four-armed doll mirrors the Fool's Idol from Demon's Souls. But whereas the Fool's Idol was naught but a mindless puppet, Ranni is certainly in control of her own actions.
- Mythical Motifs:
- Possibly more than any other character, Ranni is very close to her mythological inspiration, in this case Loki. She's a ruthless and conniving mage-god who champions chaos (in contrast to her overlord) and who seeks to overthrow the God of Order, and engineers the murder of the beloved god Godwyn (as Loki engineered the death of Baldr; both even did it the same way, enchanting a mundane object and giving it to another so they could kill the normally-immortal target). Both she and Loki cause their setting's version of Götterdämmerung in their scheming, leading to mass death. Both also have a loyal wolf as a family member (Loki's son Fenrir and Ranni's stepbrother Blaidd) who aids in their plots, work through false identities and forms, and rely on trickery partly because they're small and dainty compared to their more martial relatives.
- Her character design - a four-armed, blue-skinned, robed deity who can take multiple avatars - might be in reference to the Hindu god Vishnu (known as Bichū-ten in Japanese Buddhism), especially since Ranni sounds quite similar to a Hindi name (रानी) that means "queen."
- She also has some motifs of Kaguya-hime from Japanese mythology, a princess from the moon that descended onto the earth. The 'fake ending' to her questline, where she disappears and orders the Tarnished not to follow her, as she must travel her path alone, is likely a reference to the ending of the myth in which Kaguya must bid goodbye to her lover to return to the moon. Unlike the myth, however, Ranni and the Tarnished can become eternally bonded and stay together in her ending.
- Nay-Theist: Despite being a demigod herself, Ranni seems to have little respect for any deity, and expresses disdain for the Two Fingers and the Golden Order. Her plan for her new age after ascending to full godhood is to remove the influence of herself and other gods from the Lands Between so that the people could be free to make their own choices.
- Necessary Drawback: She doesn't seem able to remain in control of her doll body at all times and needs to rest for long periods to recharge herself. A bit precarious given that her original body is dead. The doll is also implied to be much weaker and more fragile than her original body as shown by it seemingly "breaking", leaving her practically comatose after she used it to kill her set of Two Fingers.
- Necessarily Evil: Ranni is directly or indirectly responsible for some genuinely heinous crimes, from implicitly tolerating her minion Seluvis's monstrous "hobby" so long as he's useful to arming a dangerous assassin group with the Rune of Death and enabling them to murder the beloved Godwyn. From her point of view, all of this is preferable to letting the Golden Order continue ruling the world.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Whatever you think about how she unchained herself from the Golden Order, Ranni probably did not plan for the black knives she enchanted to mutate Godwyn into an undying monstrosity whose presence warps the land and destabilizes the boundary between life and death.
- "Not So Different" Remark: A Downplayed instance can occur. Sorcerer Rogier seeks the cursemark of Destined Death to save Those Who Live In Death, who are hunted and exterminated by the hunters of the Golden Order. If you progress Rogier's questline before meeting Ranni at the Three Sisters, the Tarnished will confront her about the Night of Black Knives. Ranni admits her role in it, but refuses to reveal the cursemark's location before coldly telling the Tarnished to leave, though they do not become outright enemies. Rogier will suggest you enter her service for the covert purpose of locating the cursemark. Ranni will see through this, but allows it, and will eventually even grant the Tarnished access to her corpse that bears the cursemark, noting that "neither of us is welcomed by the brighter path."
- Not So Stoic: She loses her monotone demeanor during certain events, precisely those where she is slightly irritated. To note: when the Tarnished first chooses to talk with Ranni's miniature doll, Ranni will feign silence until the Tarnished insists well enough so Ranni responds, revealing her little doll is also her avatar, and Ranni will chastise them accusing the Tarnished of having a potential kink towards little dolls, but she is actually mad her cover was blown; also when Ranni opens herself about her troubles with the Two Fingers, she is noticeably angry when talking about them, and to finish it Ranni seems agitated too when she talks about what is her intention for the era she calls "Age of the Stars", encompassing the world in the cold of darkness, free of all current beliefs, showing clear disdain for how the world worked until the Shattering.
- Odd Friendship: The 'friendship' part is only implied in the lore, but her relationship with Melina is certainly 'odd'. Despite all the aforementioned points in Foil above, both of them are well-acquainted with each other and fond of Torrent (and potentially you, should you progress both their quests enough), have identical markings on opposite eyes, and neither goes against the other's final designs on what the next age should be (Ranni's "Age of Stars" is the only other Outer God-based ending Melina will still support). Technically, they're also the remaining active demigods who're on good terms with each other, if Melina's implied connections to Marika are true.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
- She killed her Two Fingers with the blade you gave her in the basement of a church. We only see the aftermath, but from the looks of both combatants, it was a fierce battle.
- Even more impressive is stealing the Rune of Death itself, which required her to somehow rob Maliketh the Black Blade, who is one of the most feared beings in the Lands Between and could have easily killed her if he detected her. How Ranni managed to accomplish such a feat is never even alluded to, though presumably her talents as a sorceress skilled in illusory magic were important to it. Queen Marika herself may have also assisted in the theft, if her connection to the Black Knife Assassins and plan to shatter the Elden Ring went to that extent.
- Only Sane Woman: As of the DLC, she's the only demigod to freely ask for your help, never lie to you, and never try to betray you. Which works out pretty well for her, since she's the only demigod you can actually side with.
- Patricide: If what we know about Marika and Radagon's true nature is correct, then Ranni's been planning on usurping her "father's" throne and killing him all these years. She will only succeed in the end with the Tarnished's assistance.
- Pet the Dog: If the Tarnished follows Rogier's questline before meeting Ranni at the Three Sisters, he will send the Tarnished to Ranni to locate the cursemark of Destined Death. Ranni admits her role in the Night of Black Knives, but coldly refuses to reveal the cursemark and turns the Tarnished away. Rogier, who seeks the cursemark to save Those Who Live In Death from the hunters of the Golden Order, suggests the Tarnished covertly serve Ranni to locate the mark. Ranni sees through this ploy, but allows it, and will eventually reward the Tarnished with access to her corpse that bears the cursemark, even though she has no apparent reason to do so aside from empathizing with this purpose.Ranni: I can fathom what thy purpose might be. Neither of us is welcomed by the brighter path, I see.
- Plot Armor: She's one of the very few characters that simply cannot be killed in any way at all, the others being gameplay-vital characters like Hewg, Rennala and Roderika, and the Roundtable's Two Fingers. The most you can do is attack her in specific points of her questline, after which she'll simply disappear and consider you a disappointment, before never reappearing again for that playthrough.
- Puppet Permutation: After killing herself, Ranni's spirit was imbued into a puppet made by Seluvis. Ironically, instead of the puppet looking like her original self, something Seluvis has been shown to be very good at doing, item descriptions for the Snow Witch outfit reveal her current body is tailored to look like Ranni's teacher, Renna.
- Reality Warper: Her 'illusion' magic is so strong it's technically this, completely transporting the player Tarnished into an endless body of water watched over closely by a gigantic moon, and the only 'illusory' thing about it is her control over which moon she's showing — Rennala's Full Moon or her personal Dark Moon spell. In fact, the only other entities who display a similar ability to her ability are the Elden Beast, who is an actual god; Placidussax, a dragon with similar status to Marika regarding his relationship with his Outer God; and Astel, the most powerful of all Naturalborns.
- Rebellious Princess: Not only is she a princess due to her heritage from Elden Lord Radagon who is also Marika and Queen Rennala, but she was also chosen by the Two Fingers as an Empyrean to succeed Marika. Ranni's schemes involve her rebellion against this designated role. The Age of the Stars ending sees her usurp Marika as ruler of the Lands Between, but on her own terms, doing away with the power of the Golden Order and the Two Fingers.
- The Reveal: Ranni outright proclaims herself as the one who stole Death prior to the Shattering when the Tarnished finds her again after their first meeting in her rise. If the Tarnished chooses to serve her, assisting her plot reveals Ranni was also one of three demigods chosen by the Two Fingers to be titled an Empyrean, a candidate for succeeding Marika, the other two being Miquella and Malenia.
- Robe and Wizard Hat: She wears the Snow Witch set, comprised of a regal skirted robe and a big pointed hat which both boost the effectiveness of ice magic. It's revealed to have once been her mentor's garb when you obtain it near the end of Ranni's questline.
- Romance Sidequest: Her questline in a nutshell. Of course, the results of which won't be apparent until the final steps of the quest are completed and the Age of the Stars ending is achieved, where Ranni declares the Tarnished her consort. More specifically how much Ranni seems to like the Tarnished can slightly vary depending on if you exhausted all of her dialogue options as a doll in the places allowing you so; without paying attention to that, she will merely dub the Tarnished her "fair consort eternal" when they marry, but total completion will have her say "dear consort eternal" instead. Even before the Tarnished puts the ring on her finger, she can affectionately refer to them as her "one and only Lord" when expositing her plan for the Age of the Stars.
- Satanic Archetype: Though not as blatant as Mohg and Rykard, Ranni's character is still very Luciferian, even if significantly more sympathetic than the other two examples. The biggest connection between the two is their refusal to bow down to God, with Ranni wanting to cut herself free from the fate the Fingers and the Golder Order created for her, defying its will and subverting its order in the Lands Between if her ending is chosen. Instead of being out of blind pride and superiority, Ranni seems to genuinely believe that the world would be better off without divine oversight, as that would allow people to be truly free - even if she is willing to step over a lot of corpses to get there.
- Screw Destiny: In the end, Ranni's questline is about her taking her destiny into her own hands and no longer being a pawn to be used by the Two Fingers, Golden Order or Marika.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Casted aside her Great Rune and sealed herself in Caria Manor at the start of the Shattering, refusing to raise an army or wage war against the other demigods, and as of the present day not even Gideon knows where she's gone.
- Secret Test of Character: After slaying the Baleful Shadow, itself a task she only asked of the Tarnished because of their persistence, Ranni bids goodbye to the Tarnished "for the final time" once again, but leaves with them a key to the chest containing what is essentially her engagement ring and a breadcrumb trail to the place which will otherwise be her final resting place, where she commits a Mutual Kill on one of the Two Fingers... Unless "her lord" intervenes.
- Signature Headgear: Recognizable by her massive, white witch's hat.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Or woman. One of the primary reasons Ranni finds herself endeared to the Tarnished is because of their kindness.Ranni: Ah, should I add thee to the list? Another one, kind of heart. As kind of heart as [Iji and Blaidd].
- Sole Survivor: Depending on the Tarnished's choices (plus how one interprets Malenia's Uncertain Doom), she can end up this to the demigods. All the Shardbearers save Renalla (who isn't a demigod) can die in the base game, and Messmer and Miquella die in Shadow of the Erdtree. Ranni alone cannot be killed.
- Starring Smurfette: She is both the leader of the Three Sisters faction and the only woman in the group. It turns into a case of Two Girls to a Team if a female Tarnished agrees to serve her.
- Summon Magic: While far from her only magical skill, Ranni seems to heavily favor summoning. She's the one who gifts the Tarnished the bell to call Spirit Ashes, and what's likely to be their first set of Ashes to go with it. When she "fights" in Rennala's second phase, it's by summoning an illusory copy of her mother, and said illusion takes it a step further by invoking Spirit Ashes of her own, including wolves, a troll, and a dragon. Ranni even uses summoning for regular business like calling meetings among her retainers.
- Supernatural Aid: 'Tis she who grants the Tarnished the Spirit Calling Bell, along with the Lone Wolf Ashes, one of the most important items in the player's kit. It also implies she was the original handler of Torrent. And furthermore, her stealing the Death Rune allowed for the creation of the Black Knives.(Giving you the Spirit Calling Bell)
"'Tis a bell for calling forth spirits."
"Summon them with it, from ash unreturned to the Erdtree."
"The spirits will obey thine command but briefly, as they recall battles past."
"Now it is thine. To do with as thou wishest." - Thanatos Gambit: When talking to the miniature Ranni doll, she tells the Tarnished she slew her own physical body to free herself from the destiny the Two Fingers had chosen for her as an Empyrean. In order to do so she had to kill herself with a Black Knife at the same time as another Demigod, in this case Godwyn, is killed in the same way, so the Cursemark of Death would be metaphysically halved and one would "die in soul but not in body", which is what happened to Godwyn, and the other "die in body but not in soul", her wanted outcome.
- That Liar Lies: Should the Tarnished come across her as "Renna" after receiving Torrent, Ranni will ask if they are the bearer of a Spectral Steed called Torrent, and become rather annoyed if they answer no; revealing she is acquainted with Melina, who told her about them, and giving them a chance to change their response. Should the Tarnished persist in denying they have Torrent, Ranni calls them out on lying again but admits they're wise not to trust her.
- Token Good Teammate: Downplayed. Ranni is far from innocent, freely admitting to having blood on her hands (including that the other major candidate for the position, Godwyn) and making dubious alliances with dark beings like Seluvis and Rykard. However, she's by far the least bad demigod the Tarnished encounters; non-hostile to the Tarnished and more or less honest about her motives, goals, and crimes. She is completely sane and, while her goals are a bit unclear, she doesn't have aspirations of conquering or destroying the world. Compared to the other demigods and Marika, her ruthless schemes for what may (or may not) be the greater good makes her look a bit more saintly.
- Token Heroic Orc: While by no means the most morally clean of Marika’s children, Ranni is the only Demigod who, aside from her hijacking the second phase of Rennala’s fight to protect her mother (which is implied to be a trap she set, since the real Ranni never mentions fighting the Tarnished even after Renalla's boss fight is done), is neutral to/on The Tarnished’s side and doesn’t attack them on sight. She’s also debatably the Big Good if you pursue her ending.
- Tranquil Fury:
- Should the Tarnished attempt to administer Seluvis' Amber Draught, Ranni's voice never rises above a calm, harsh tone betraying her barely-restrained rage.
- This is also her reaction when the Tarnished gets to the second phase of her boss fight, calling them a "foul trespasser" and taking up the fight in her mother's place.
- True Companions: She cares deeply for both Iji and Blaidd and one of the last things doll Ranni asks of you before she goes to fight the Two Fingers is to tell Iji and Blaidd she loves them. Depending on why they joined her, she'll develop either the same gratitude to the Tarnished or something more.
- Two-Faced: Ranni has a spectral mirror image of her head beside her, with the left side of its face superimposed over the right side of hers.
- Übermensch: Ranni's ultimate goal. Her Age of the Stars will do away with the Golden Order and everything pertaining to Queen Marika's rule, essentially creating a new world order.
- The Unfought: Played With; while Ranni does highjack her mother's second phase, you are fighting an illusion of Rennala at her peak, not Ranni herself. This makes Ranni technically the only demigod whom you interact with (Godwyn and Miquella are both kind of dead when you see them) you never directly fight. Even if you attack her or attempt to trick her, she will just state how Disappointed in You she is, kill you instantly if it is in her tower, then leave and never appear again.
- The Un-Reveal: Ranni definitely enchanted the Black Knives weapons used to kill Godwyn, but why Godwyn was the one killed, or even whether Ranni herself was the one who chose him to be killed, is left ambiguous.
- Unreliable Narrator: She narrates the game's story trailer, which has her audibly wondering who could have stolen the Rune of Death. In the game itself, not only does she know who stole it, she's the one who stole it!
- The Usurper: In the Age of the Stars ending, where she succeeds Queen Marika as God-Emperor and marries the Tarnished as her consort.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: Against all normal reasoning, you can actually make the Tarnished attack Ranni at the very end of her questline, when bringing her doll body back to life, instead of talking to Ranni one last time before she teleports away to the "Age of the Stars" summon rune trigger; Ranni will sadly remark she should have seen it coming, believing no Tarnished would actually randomly appear to help her without ulterior motives or being just plain crazy. Ranni disappears after that unprovoked assault.
- Wave-Motion Gun: She uses Comet Azur when fighting on Rennala's behalf.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She fully believes all the problems with the world can be linked back to the Golden Order and the Two Fingers, as she claims everything bad which had occurred was due to their influence. Going so far as to defy them is the only way she feels their hold can be broken.
- What the Hell, Hero?: During the second phase of Rennala's boss fight, Ranni calls the Tarnished a "foul trespasser" for attacking her mother and declares she'll fight them in her stead. If the Tarnished actually goes along with Preceptor Seluvis' plan of administering the Amber Drought on Ranni, she will be understandably enraged by your actions and soon have Seluvis killed and will completely cut ties with the Tarnished, threatening them to leave her presence forever.
- Worf Had the Flu: When you 'fought' her briefly, those powerful and annoying spells she was using to wipe the floor with you were actually weakened from her real ability, as she was working through a projection of her mother's visage (much like her brothers Mohg and Morgott/Margit are handicapped when having to fight in projection form rather than in-person). As she has lost her original body long ago and is now using a puppet body, it is also likely she was stronger prior to losing it as it was noted to possess the qualities to be an Empyrean, though the Dark Moon Ring seems able to restore them. She complains about the limitations her doll body place on her more than once in her dialogue, indicating that she is likely only operating at a fraction of the strength she had when she was still flesh and blood.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A surprisingly sympathetic example, as the only one she does this to is Seluvis, who was planning to puppet her with the Amber Draught.


