167 Fun Facts About Elden Ring

Elden Ring launched in February 2022 on PlayStation, Xbox and which third platform?

Windows PC was the third launch platform on February 25, 2022; Nintendo players were left out until a Switch 2 version finally arrived in August 2026.

Which fantasy novelist provided the worldbuilding for Elden Ring?

George R. R. Martin wrote only the ancient history: the studio kept him away from the in-game story so he could invent freely, without the limits its cryptic storytelling puts on a writer.

Elden Ring belongs to which subgenre, named after an earlier series by the same studio?

Soulslike games are named for FromSoftware's Demon's Souls and Dark Souls: their high difficulty and environmental storytelling were imitated so widely that the style became a genre of its own.

Which Game Awards category did Elden Ring win in both 2020 and 2021?

Most Anticipated Game went to Elden Ring two years running; the other three trophies followed in 2022, once the game was out.

Which academy of sorcery in Liurnia is ruled by Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon?

Raya Lucaria is the academy that rises from Liurnia's lake; a magical barrier seals its gate, so nobody gets in without first finding an Academy Glintstone Key.

In Elden Ring's opening, White Mask Varré mocks the player for lacking what?

A maiden is what Varré says you lack: without one, a Tarnished has no guide and cannot turn runes into strength, which is exactly the bargain Melina soon offers.

Which queen shattered the Elden Ring, triggering the war called the Shattering?

Queen Marika the Eternal shattered the Elden Ring after her son Godwyn was murdered, and her demigod children then warred over its Great Runes.

Which armoured knight on horseback patrols the road just outside Elden Ring's tutorial area?

Tree Sentinel is in view the moment a new player steps outside, and he is optional: the wise move is to slip past and return stronger, yet he drew more attempts than all but two bosses.

Which giant tortoise in a bishop's mitre teaches spells at the Church of Vows?

Miriel, Pastor of Vows, teaches both sorceries and incantations, and his church also grants absolution, turning any character a player has angered back into a friend.

What is the name of the hub where players gather to plan repairing the Elden Ring?

Roundtable Hold cannot be walked to: it lies outside the map itself, so a player first arrives by invitation while resting and afterwards returns only by fast travel.

Which attribute governs a character's maximum health in Elden Ring?

Vigor governs maximum HP, and raising it has a side effect: the character also shrugs off more fire damage.

What are the checkpoints in Elden Ring called?

Sites of grace are Elden Ring's checkpoints: resting at one refills flasks and respawns most enemies, and the last one rested at is where the player returns after death.

In Elden Ring, what are the obtainable enchantments that grant weapons new capabilities called?

Ashes of War can be put on a weapon and taken off again at no cost, so one favourite sword can swap its special skill and damage type to suit each new fight.

Where can spirit summons be used?

Spirit summons work only near Rebirth Monuments, stone obelisks that stand in open areas and nearly every boss arena, so a spirit helper cannot be called in every fight.

What item does a host use to attract more invaders?

The Taunter's Tongue opens a host's world to invaders even when no co-op partner is present, shortens the wait between invasions and lets a second invader join in.

What is Godrick's gruesome practice, from which he takes his title?

Grafting severed body parts onto himself is Godrick's form of biological augmentation; halfway through his boss fight he grafts a dead dragon's head onto his arm and uses it as a flamethrower.

Which boss guards the front gate of Stormveil Castle?

Margit the Fell Omen bars the approach to Stormveil Castle, but nothing forces the fight at once: he is optional, so a struggling player can leave, explore and return stronger.

Which scheming servant is found stomping on Godrick's severed head after his defeat?

Gatekeeper Gostoc first steers visitors away from the main gate toward a hole in the wall; once his master is dead he stamps on the body, cursing Godrick for having pushed him about.

Which demigod guards the way into the Erdtree and declares that it will admit no one?

Morgott the Grace-Given was imprisoned beneath the capital for being born an Omen, yet he still loved the Golden Order and defended the city against his fellow demigods in the Shattering.

Which two foes are the final bosses fought inside the Erdtree?

Radagon comes first and the Elden Beast appears the moment he falls, with no rest between: dying to the Elden Beast means beating Radagon all over again.

What is Elden Ring's default ending called, in which the Tarnished simply takes the throne?

Age of Fracture needs no questline: the Tarnished mends the Elden Ring as it is and becomes Elden Lord, while four of the five other endings each need a character's quest finished first.

Which boss guards the mountaintop forge where the burning of the Erdtree begins?

The Fire Giant must fall before the forge can be reached; attackers go for the wrapped left leg that is his weak point until, at half health, he tears off the foot himself.

Besides its top prize, which other Steam Award did players vote to Elden Ring for 2022?

Best Game You Suck At went to Elden Ring in the same public vote that named it Game of the Year: Steam users crowned it their favourite while admitting it was beating them.

What is Malenia's title once she is overcome by the rot in her second phase?

Malenia becomes 'Goddess of Rot' once her first health bar is emptied: she gives in to the Scarlet Rot that her brother's Unalloyed Gold had held back, and rises again with most of her health.

Roughly how many times had players fought Malenia by March 2023?

329 million attempts on Malenia were logged in the game's first year, more than on any other boss; fans worked out that she had been killing about ten players every second.

What did the famous player 'Let Me Solo Her' wear on their head?

Let Me Solo Her wore only a jar on his head, fighting otherwise naked with two katanas, and beat Malenia for strangers over a thousand times; Bandai Namco sent him a gift for it.

What is the name of Radahn's tiny horse?

Radahn's horse is Leonard, a scrawny steed he loved so much that he learned gravity magic so his giant body would not crush it.

Who gives the opening speech at the Radahn Festival?

Witch-Hunter Jerren, an old comrade of Radahn, presides over the festival meant to give the rot-maddened general an honourable death; afterwards he sets out to hunt the sorceress Sellen.

Who are Ranni's parents?

Radagon and Rennala's marriage ended a war between the Golden Order and Liurnia's Carian royals; when he later abandoned her for another throne, Rennala lost her mind.

Which event did Ranni orchestrate to kill Godwyn the Golden?

Ranni orchestrated the Night of the Black Knives, whose assassins killed Godwyn with half of the stolen Rune of Death; she used the other half to kill her own body and live on in a doll.

Who is Ranni's half-wolf protector?

Blaidd was bound to Ranni at birth as a loyal shadow with a hidden second duty, to punish her if she ever defied her masters; when she does, he loses his mind and turns on the player.

Which unusual feature does the doll body of Ranni the Witch have?

Four arms set apart the doll Ranni now inhabits: she killed her own body to slip free of the Greater Will, and bound her soul to this figure instead.

Which ingredient is dried into the treat that heals Torrent, the player's mount in Elden Ring?

Rowa fruit is dried into raisins that restore Torrent's health mid-ride; people cannot stomach the fruit, but the horse has a taste for it.

How many copies had Elden Ring sold by April 2025?

30 million copies had been sold by April 2025, and the pace was set early: 13.4 million went in the first five weeks after launch.

After Elden Ring won Game of the Year in 2022, a stage crasher dedicated the award to which former US president?

Bill Clinton was named as the teenager's 'reformed Orthodox rabbi' after he slipped on stage behind the winners; guards led him off and host Geoff Keighley announced an arrest minutes later.

In January 2023, Elden Ring passed which 2020 game as the most-awarded Game of the Year winner?

The Last of Us Part II had collected 322 such awards for 2020; Elden Ring's tally crept past it in the first days of 2023, with late lists still coming in.

Which of these did the director name as a design influence on Elden Ring?

Breath of the Wild was among the open-world classics Miyazaki said he had played and absorbed, though he insisted no single game was a direct model: his team placed the bosses first and built the map around them.

At which event was Elden Ring first revealed?

Elden Ring was first revealed at E3 2019 during Microsoft's press conference, then went almost silent for two years until the June 2021 gameplay trailer.

Which 2001 game inspired the future Elden Ring director to leave his job and become a game designer?

Ico, Fumito Ueda's 2001 PlayStation 2 game, moved Hidetaka Miyazaki to quit his corporate job and join FromSoftware in 2004, taking a pay cut to do so.

What does Elden Ring call the demigod bosses who each hold a Great Rune?

Shardbearers each carry a fragment of the shattered Elden Ring, and the trophy list spells it out: beating Godrick unlocks the achievement 'Shardbearer Godrick'.

What was FromSoftware's first video game?

King's Field, a first-person dungeon crawl for the new PlayStation in 1994, was FromSoftware's first game; since its founding in 1986 the company had written office software.

Which company owns the majority stake in FromSoftware?

Kadokawa kept about 70% even after selling new shares in 2022, when Tencent's Sixjoy took roughly 16% and Sony 14% of the studio behind Elden Ring.

In Shadow of the Erdtree, what does Messmer the Impaler transform into midway through his boss fight?

A giant serpent: a malevolent snake writhed inside Messmer, so his mother plucked out his eye and set a seal of grace in its place; at half health he lets the creature loose.

Which underground region of Elden Ring is first reached by riding a lift down a well in the Mistwood?

Siofra River sits far beneath the opening region: the well's lift opens onto a vast cavern lit like a night sky, and unlike most dungeons it still allows riding and fast travel.

What collectible raises your attack and defense inside the expansion area?

Scadutree Fragments raise the player's attack and defense only inside the Land of Shadow, so even a maxed-out character arrives underpowered and has to explore the new map to grow strong again.

Which two bosses must be beaten in the base game to access Shadow of the Erdtree?

Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord of Blood must both be defeated; touching the withered arm beside Miquella's cocoon in Mohg's palace then leads into the Land of Shadow.

Against which faction did Messmer, the abandoned son, lead a crusade?

The Hornsent are the horned natives of the Land of Shadow whom Messmer the Impaler purged with fire; one survivor swears vengeance and can be called in to help fight him.

In which Japanese city is Elden Ring's developer, FromSoftware, based?

Tokyo has been FromSoftware's home since 1986: it started in the Shibuya district writing office software, and only years later made its first game.

How do players revive a downed teammate in Elden Ring Nightreign?

By attacking them: each blow wears down a gauge over the fallen ally, and since spells and arrows count, a careful player can raise a friend from across the arena.

Which Elden Ring starting class begins at level one with no armour and only a club?

The Wretch starts with ten points in every attribute and nothing else, which makes the early game brutal but leaves the character free to grow into any build.

Which trickster, a regular in FromSoftware's games, ambushes Elden Ring players in a cave and then begs for mercy?

Patches the Untethered surrenders once the fight turns against him and, if spared, opens a shop in that same cave; trust him later, though, and he kicks the player off a cliff.

Which studio partnered with writer-director Alex Garland on the Elden Ring film?

A24 backed the film after Alex Garland privately shared his own time playing the game with the studio's head of film, who was impressed enough to pursue an adaptation.

What is the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Elden Ring called?

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition reached the Switch 2 in August 2026, a year later than first planned, bundling the base game with its expansion; its extras were sold separately on other platforms.

Which of these composers worked on Elden Ring's score?

Yuka Kitamura joined FromSoftware in 2011 and led the music for Dark Souls III before Elden Ring; she went independent in 2023 but still wrote pieces for its expansion.

Which region does the Grand Lift of Dectus carry the Tarnished up to?

The Grand Lift of Dectus rises from Liurnia to the Altus Plateau once both halves of its medallion are joined, though a climb through the Ruin-Strewn Precipice gets there without it.

Which region of Elden Ring is a red wasteland consumed by Scarlet Rot?

Caelid was ruined when Malenia unleashed the Scarlet Rot in her duel with Radahn there: the blight spread until it had engulfed the whole region and cost Radahn his mind.

Besides a staff, what item lets a player cast the spells they have memorised?

A sacred seal casts incantations, the faith-based school of magic, while a staff handles only sorceries; a character who wants both kinds of spell must carry both tools.

In Elden Ring, at what marker can players choose to respawn if they died nearby?

Stakes of Marika are small statues set near boss doors and crowded ambush spots; dying within range offers a respawn right there, sparing the long run back from the last checkpoint.

What happens to dropped runes if a player dies again before picking them up?

Lost forever: runes dropped on death wait at that spot, marked on the compass, but only until the next death, which wipes them out for good.

In Elden Ring, the knowledge to craft new items comes from collectibles called what?

Cookbooks teach far more than meals: each one found adds recipes for the likes of poison darts and exploding pots to the crafting menu.

Which item must a player own to call a specific summonable ally?

Its Spirit Ash is the token each ally answers to; ringing them in costs magic or health, and they come only to a player fighting without human partners.

How does a player offer to join another player's world for co-op?

By placing a summon sign on the ground: it shows up in the worlds of nearby players who have used the matching item, and whoever touches it pulls the helper across.

Which envoy of the Greater Will tells the Tarnished to gather the Great Runes?

The Two Fingers cannot speak for themselves: an aged finger reader named Enia interprets their will, and through her they order the Tarnished to claim the demigods' Great Runes.

What blocks the interior of the Erdtree when the Tarnished first reaches it?

A wall of thorns seals the Erdtree's interior when the Tarnished first arrives, and Melina says only the Flame of Ruin can burn it away.

Taking which power causes Melina to abandon the Tarnished?

The Frenzied Flame, taken from the Three Fingers deep beneath the capital, makes Melina walk away; the Tarnished must then burn the Erdtree alone and is locked into that ending unless Miquella's needle is used.

To which ruined city is the Tarnished transported while the Erdtree burns?

Farum Azula is where the Tarnished wakes once the tree is alight: a crumbling city of dragons, where one more guardian must fall before the fire can finish its work.

Whose Rune of Death is used to fuel the burning of the Erdtree?

Maliketh the Black Blade sealed the Rune of Death in his own flesh after part of it was stolen once before; he first appears as the Beast Clergyman, and only his death sets the rune free.

Which consumable activates an equipped Great Rune's power until the player next dies?

A Rune Arc activates the equipped Great Rune's blessing until the next death; arcs drop rarely from rats and are rewarded for successful co-op or invasions.

Miyazaki compared the backstory written for Elden Ring to what tabletop concept?

A dungeon master's handbook is how Miyazaki described the mythos an outside author wrote for him: a guide to the world's lore that left each of them free to work without restricting the other.

Work on FromSoftware's open-world epic began in 2017 once which Dark Souls III expansion was done?

The Ringed City closed out Dark Souls III in 2017, and its director had said he wanted to move on from that series, leaving the team free to plan a new fantasy world.

Elden Ring was developed alongside which other FromSoftware game directed by Miyazaki?

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was built in parallel: each game had a co-director to run its early stages, which let Miyazaki steer both, and Sekiro reached shops first, in 2019.

Which FromSoftware game, made without Miyazaki as director, was led by Elden Ring co-director Yui Tanimura?

Dark Souls II went to Tanimura and Tomohiro Shibuya because Miyazaki was busy with another project and only supervised; Tanimura later worked at his side on Dark Souls III and Elden Ring.

Which item lets the Tarnished be reborn and reassign their stats at Rennala?

A Larval Tear lets Rennala remake a character from scratch; one is carried by a harmless-looking nobleman who turns into a bear when struck, a mimic creature in disguise.

Which tabletop role-playing game did Miyazaki credit as an inspiration for Elden Ring's story?

RuneQuest was one of the tabletop games Miyazaki grew up on, because his parents kept video games out of the house until university; he named it beside Tolkien and Moorcock for this story.

What was the origin of the leak that revealed Elden Ring days before its official unveiling?

Bandai Namco's servers gave it away: a flaw exposed the publisher's whole show line-up early, so Elden Ring leaked alongside Tales of Arise and a Ni no Kuni remaster.

What reason did FromSoftware give for delaying Elden Ring by five weeks in late 2021?

Its depth exceeded expectations, the studio said, citing the game's 'depth and strategic freedom'; it softened the news by announcing a closed network test for November in the same message.

What was the main technical complaint from players at Elden Ring's launch?

Insufficient frame rate, with stutter worst on PC, was the complaint; Bandai Namco acknowledged it on launch day itself and promised patches to smooth the game out.

What did Elden Ring's Nintendo Switch 2 version add to the game?

Two new classes arrived as starting choices on the Switch 2, along with new weapons and armour skins for the horse; players elsewhere could buy the same extras as an add-on.

What is the name of the speedrunning trick that lets players warp across the map?

The zip glitch launches a guarding character forward when a walk input is held for an exact number of frames; with it, speedrunners cut the game to under five minutes within months of release.

Which flask mixes two Crystal Tears into a custom one-use drink?

The Flask of Wondrous Physick takes any two Crystal Tears and refills at every rest, so players tailor it to the fight, for instance with a tear that briefly makes every spell cost nothing.

Which talisman lets a player keep all their runes after dying?

The Sacrificial Twig prevents rune loss on death but snaps in the act, so each one covers a single mistake and a fresh twig must be equipped before the next.

Which game outsold Elden Ring in the United States in 2022?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II overtook it only at the end: Elden Ring had been America's best-selling game of 2022 until the shooter's autumn launch pushed it into second place.

Which game led The Game Awards 2022 in both nominations and wins, yet lost Game of the Year to Elden Ring?

God of War Ragnarök took six trophies, including Best Narrative, to Elden Ring's four, but the four included the big ones: Game of the Year and Best Game Direction.

What did Alex Garland create, unpaid, to win FromSoftware's backing for the Elden Ring film?

A complete screenplay: Garland wrote 160 pages on spec, plus forty more of imagery, to win over the game's elusive creator; only then did the studio's film chief fly with him to Japan to close the deal.

Which Warfare actor reunited with director Alex Garland to star in the Elden Ring film?

Kit Connor made his name as the schoolboy lead of Netflix's teen romance Heartstopper; after Warfare he now leads a fantasy epic whose budget is reported to be well over $100 million.

In Shadow of the Erdtree, what strengthens summoned allies and Torrent within the new realm?

Revered Spirit Ashes, gathered from withered corpses once honoured as guardian deities, toughen spirit summons and Torrent, but the boost vanishes the moment the player leaves the expansion's map.

What is the name of Messmer the Impaler's fortress in the Elden Ring expansion?

Shadow Keep houses Messmer the Impaler's main army; killing him there yields the kindling needed to burn the sealing tree that hides the expansion's final dungeon.

Which follower of Miquella in the expansion worships his female alter-ego, St. Trina?

Thiollier, a poison-maker rather than a fighter, worships St. Trina, heads south in search of her, and can still be summoned to help in the expansion's final battle.

Which armoured merchant among Miquella's followers leads the Forager Brood of friendly Pests?

Moore, a gentle giant in verdigris armour, sends his Forager Brood out to scavenge for him, and he invades any player who kills two of those harmless Pests.

Miquella's trail in Shadow of the Erdtree ends at which gateway, where the final boss awaits?

The Gate of Divinity crowns Enir-Ilim, a tower that stays hidden until the Tarnished burns its sealing tree with kindling taken from the slain Messmer.

Whose corpse did Miquella use to revive Radahn as his consort?

Mohg's corpse became the vessel for Radahn's soul, which is why the reborn consort attacks with Mohg's bloodflame as well as his own gravity magic.

How did Bandai Namco first reveal Shadow of the Erdtree in February 2023?

With a single piece of artwork: a lone rider on a horned steed, plus one line saying an expansion was in development. Players waited another year for the first gameplay trailer.

Miyazaki compared the size of the expansion's world to which base-game region?

Limgrave was Miyazaki's yardstick, with slightly more content, he said. The Verge's writer, thirty hours in, did not buy it: the layered map felt far, far larger.

Before release, what did Miyazaki say Shadow of the Erdtree would be?

The first and last expansion: Miyazaki called it Elden Ring's only DLC, yet in the same interview he declined to rule out another game set in that world.

Which Steam rating did user reviews sink to when Shadow of the Erdtree launched, amid complaints about its difficulty?

Mixed was the label: critics raved, but many early players found the expansion punishing, and within a week FromSoftware patched its new levelling blessings to give more power sooner.

Which expansion boss fight drew early player criticism and was later adjusted in an update?

Promised Consort Radahn, the expansion's final boss, drew complaints about visual clutter and hard-to-read attacks, so a September 2024 patch toned him down and made his attack effects easier to see.

How many copies did Shadow of the Erdtree sell in its first three days?

Five million copies went in the first three days, Bandai Namco announced, but doubling that took far longer: the ten-million mark fell only in July 2025.

In Shadow of the Erdtree, what makes Miquella's followers turn on one another?

His charm over them breaks: when Miquella casts off his Great Rune, the spell that compelled their devotion lifts, and his knight Leda begins attacking her former comrades.

Why was Shadow of the Erdtree's 2024 Game of the Year nomination controversial?

It was an expansion, not a new release, the first DLC ever nominated; organisers had just confirmed that DLC, remakes and remasters were eligible, and the prize went to Astro Bot.

What genre best describes Elden Ring Nightreign?

Roguelike fits because every session reshuffles the map's enemies and landmarks, and a full team wipe sends everyone back to the first day at level one.

At which event was Elden Ring Nightreign revealed?

The Game Awards 2024 hosted its debut trailer in December, and within a day Bandai Namco had announced a network test for February so players could try it.

What feature does Nightreign borrow from battle royale games?

Nightreign borrows a shrinking play area from battle royales: a ring of deadly rain closes in over each in-game day, then resets after that day's boss is beaten.

What is the Nightreign event called that can add a massive extra dungeon to a run?

Shifting Earth events remake part of the map, such as the Crater or the hidden city Noklateo, and each hides a prize: clearing the Crater lets a team upgrade a weapon to legendary rank.

What are the harder versions of Nightreign's Nightlord bosses called?

Everdark Sovereigns are tougher versions of the Nightlords; beating one pays out Sovereign Sigils, a currency to trade for rewards back at the hub.

What is the name of Nightreign's DLC released on December 4, 2025?

The Forsaken Hollows sent players after a new enemy, the Dreglord, a vengeful being fused from the Night's victims, and added two playable classes, the Undertaker and the Scholar.

Which Dark Souls boss appears as a night boss in Nightreign's DLC?

Artorias is DLC twice over: he debuted in the first Dark Souls' own expansion, Artorias of the Abyss, then came back for Nightreign's expansion more than a decade later.

What cataclysm plunged Nightreign's version of the Lands Between into eternal darkness?

The Primordial Night is where Nightreign splits from Elden Ring: its director calls everything after the Shattering a separate branch of the story, running parallel to the original.

Which Nightlord awaits at the end of Tricephalos, the first expedition Nightreign players must clear?

Gladius, Beast of Night is a many-headed hound with flames flickering between its fangs; beating him is the gate to the rest of the game, including the two classes added by its expansion.

Which Nightfarer is the greatsword-wielding knight with a grappling-claw skill?

Wylder is the all-rounder most newcomers start with, but his journal gives him a private quest: finding the younger sister who set out on her journey before him.

Which Nightfarer fights with a cursed katana and can transform into a beast?

The Executor is a condemned man whose body has fused with pieces of armour; his cursed blade rewards deflecting enemy blows rather than dodging them.

Which Nightfarer takes the form of a possessed doll and summons spirits with a lyre?

The Revenant is the daughter of a ruined noble house whose soul possessed a doll; the spirits her lyre calls up are her own dead family, summoned to avenge their disgrace.

What part did Elden Ring's fantasy-novelist worldbuilder play in making Nightreign?

He was not involved: asked whether the novelist had any influence on Nightreign, its director confirmed he had none, calling the spin-off's story completely separate from Elden Ring's.

How many copies did Nightreign sell in its first 24 hours?

2 million copies went on day one, helped by pre-orders, Bandai Namco said; sales had nearly doubled to 3.5 million by the dawn of the fifth day.

Which legendary mentor taught Malenia her combat style?

The Blind Swordsman is said to have sealed away an ancient god of Rot; once Malenia found him and his flowing blade, she 'gained wings of unparalleled strength'.

Malenia's duel with Radahn during the Shattering ended how?

The Battle of Aeonia ended in a stalemate: Malenia unleashed the Scarlet Rot's bloom as a last resort, crippling Radahn and herself alike.

The player fights Malenia at the base of which holy tree created by Miquella?

Malenia was carried to the Haligtree asleep by Finlay, one of her last surviving knights, and the tree began to rot from within while she slumbered at its roots.

What is left in Malenia's place after she is defeated?

A large red flower blooms where Malenia falls; give it the gold needle from Millicent's quest and it returns Miquella's Needle, the one item that can undo the Frenzied Flame.

What did Elden Ring's day-one patch do to the Malenia boss fight?

Made her less aggressive: a datamine of the unpatched game found Malenia could unleash Waterfowl Dance whenever she liked, where the patched fight makes her wait until she is below 80 percent health.

Which incantation, a popular anti-Malenia tactic, was nerfed by a patch?

Swarm of Flies lost some of its bleed build-up in an April 2022 patch, and the same update accidentally let Malenia heal in co-op without landing a hit, a bug soon fixed.

What did Bandai Namco and PureArts release for the expansion in 2024?

A replica of Malenia's prosthetic arm was sold life-size at 95 centimetres; in the game her blade is built into that golden limb, which is why the katana players win from her is called the Hand of Malenia.

Which word completes Malenia's boast before her boss fight, 'I have never known ...'?

Defeat: Malenia delivers the line as she wakes from a long sleep, then repeats her name and title over every player she kills in the fight's first phase.

Streamer MissMikkaa needed 553 attempts to beat Malenia at level one using what as her controller?

A dance pad: MissMikkaa steered every dodge, swing and flask with her feet across more than 15 hours of attempts, taking only a handful of hits on the winning run.

What creature beat Malenia's first phase, with a camera turning its movements into button presses?

A goldfish named Tortellini did it: YouTuber PointCrow rigged a camera so that wherever the fish swam in its tank pressed a different button, though he gave it some help.

Whose questline ends with the Tarnished claiming the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince?

Fia falls asleep beside the Prince of Death, and the Tarnished must enter her dream and slay the dragon Fortissax there before the rune can be taken from her.

Which Peaky Blinders cast member voices Ranni the Witch in Elden Ring?

Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Esme Shelby in Peaky Blinders, voices a witch with no living body of her own: Ranni slew the flesh she was born in and speaks through a doll instead.

What is the name of the ending in which the player leaves as Ranni's royal consort?

The Age of the Stars ending has Ranni carry her new order away with the Tarnished on a journey meant to last a thousand years, leaving the land without a Lord.

Which royal knight is the boss of Caria Manor, guarding the way to Ranni's Rise?

Royal Knight Loretta bars the way at Caria Manor only as a spirit; the knight herself is fought in the flesh much later, having left Caria to seek a haven for the Albinaurics.

What weapon from Nokron, the Eternal City, must the player retrieve for Ranni?

The Fingerslayer Blade lies in a chest in Nokron's Night's Sacred Ground; Ranni needs it to slay the divine envoys that bind her, and hands over the Carian Inverted Statue in return.

What weapon does Ranni bestow when the player gives her a ring as her consort?

The Dark Moon Greatsword follows Carian custom: each queen bestows a moon greatsword on her spouse, so Ranni gives hers once the Tarnished slips the Dark Moon Ring onto her finger.

What happens if the player slips Ranni the puppet-making Amber Draught from Seluvis?

She kills you both and leaves: Seluvis is found dead in his tower, and Ranni's questline stays shut until the player atones with Celestial Dew at the Church of Vows.

Which Berserk character did Kotaku suggest inspired Ranni?

Schierke, a young witch-in-training, calms Guts when his wolf-like Berserker Armor takes hold, a bond Kotaku's Ian Walker likened to Ranni's with her own wolfish guardian.

Which fan-favourite character is first found stuck in the ground at Stormhill, asking for help?

Iron Fist Alexander, the Warrior Jar, is first found stuck in the ground at Stormhill; freed, he goes on to fight at the Radahn Festival and beside the Tarnished.

Under which alias does Ranni first greet the player at the Church of Elleh?

Renna is the name Ranni gives when she hands over the Spirit Calling Bell at the Church of Elleh; she drops the alias only when the player later reaches her tower.

Rock Paper Shotgun compared Ranni's design to which fantasy wizard because of her large hat?

Gandalf was the comparison Rock Paper Shotgun's CJ Wheeler reached for, adding that Ranni's greyish-blue skin matched Middle-earth's favourite wizard as well as her hat did.

What is the name of Radahn's personal army?

The Redmanes are Radahn's personal army, based at Redmane Castle; they hold the Radahn Festival to give their rot-maddened general an honourable death.

Which Elden Lord did the young Radahn admire and model himself on, adopting a lion motif?

The young Radahn idolised Godfrey, the first Elden Lord, adopting a lion motif in his honour; he wore his red hair proudly, unlike his father Radagon.

Under whom did Radahn study gravitational magic?

Radahn learned gravitational magic from an Alabaster Lord, one of a stone-skinned race said to have risen to life when a meteor struck, so that he could keep riding his beloved horse.

What crashes to earth when Radahn dies, blasting open a path to the underground city of Nokron?

A falling star: Radahn had frozen the stars in place with gravity magic, so his death sets them moving again and one plunges down, leaving a crater that leads to Nokron.

Which fight did Miyazaki name as his favourite boss battle in Elden Ring?

The first Radahn encounter won him over: Miyazaki likes Radahn as a character and the festival around the fight, an idea he says no one on the team took seriously at first.

Torrent has traits of which animal despite being called a horse?

A goat is the closer match: besides the horns, a horse specialist reviewing Torrent for The Mane Quest found his legs bend like a goat's, a detail Kotaku said it could not un-see.

What item lets the player summon and dismiss Torrent instantly?

The Spectral Steed Whistle is not a pipe at all: the game describes it as a delicate goldwork ring, worn on the finger and blown as a finger whistle.

What lets Torrent leap far higher than normal at fixed points in the overworld?

Spirit springs are columns of rushing air that fling Torrent up cliffs, and they work both ways: dropping into one from a great height cancels all fall damage.

Paid cosmetics for Torrent, sold as $5 DLC in 2026, drew comparisons to which game's infamous horse armor?

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion sold armour for its horses as paid DLC weeks after its 2006 launch, a controversy that GamesRadar's reviewer said Torrent's new looks threw back to.

Dataminers found that Elden Ring's opening cutscene was originally set where, instead of in a cave?

On a sandy beach below the Seaside Ruins, a dataminer found in 2024, which fits a hero who has just fallen from a cliff better than the cave of the finished game.

Which unused Torrent animation was reused for certain mounted enemy bosses?

Bucking was cut from Torrent's moves: the hind-leg kick launched enemies skyward but was probably too awkward to land, though the mounts of enemy riders still use it.

Hidetaka Miyazaki joined FromSoftware in 2004 to work on which series?

Armored Core: Last Raven was his first project, joined midway as a 29-year-old with no games experience; he has said FromSoftware was one of the few studios that would take him.

Which job did Miyazaki take at FromSoftware in 2014, ten years after joining with no games experience?

President: he was appointed in May 2014 when the studio changed owners, a ten-year rise from career-changer to boss that a colleague called unprecedented in Japan.

For which US company did Miyazaki work as an account manager before joining FromSoftware?

Oracle, the American IT giant, was a steady job he drifted into after university; he later gave up its salary for a far lower-paid start in games at the age of 29.

What everyday experience inspired the Souls games' silent multiplayer systems?

Cars being pushed up a snowy road: stuck on a hill in the snow, Miyazaki watched strangers shove the cars to the top and vanish before they could be thanked, the mood he wanted for co-op.

In 2023, Elden Ring's success put Miyazaki on which annual list?

Time 100 Most Influential People: fellow game director Neil Druckmann wrote his tribute, calling Elden Ring 'a great ambassador for video games', though he admitted his own first Miyazaki game left him miserable.

Which pair of his childhood inspirations presented Miyazaki's 2018 Golden Joystick Lifetime Achievement Award?

Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson created the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks; Miyazaki grew up on Jackson's Sorcery! because he was barred from video games at home until university.

Which 2018 virtual reality adventure did Miyazaki direct for PlayStation VR?

Déraciné casts the player as an unseen faerie in a boarding school; Miyazaki said it began with asking whether a classic, slow-paced adventure game could be recreated in VR.

Who founded FromSoftware in 1986, originally as a business software developer?

Naotoshi Zin led the company for almost three decades, steering it from office software into games, before stepping back to an advisory role.

In FromSoftware's cult 2004 mech shooter Metal Wolf Chaos, who pilots the hero's mech?

The US President: Michael Wilson straps into a mech to crush a coup led by his own Vice President, a premise that won the Japan-only Xbox game a Western cult following and a 2019 remaster.

Which actor from HBO's The Last of Us joined the cast of the Elden Ring film?

Nick Offerman, Bill in The Last of Us, moved from one game adaptation to another: a film that trade reports put at well over $100 million, the studio's biggest production yet.

Besides Scotland, the Elden Ring film shot at castles and a slate quarry in which region in 2026?

North Wales hosted the shoot in May 2026: actors in armour filmed in searing heat at the Dinorwig slate quarry, under round-the-clock security, and at Dolbadarn and Conwy castles.

Before games, Miyazaki took a corporate account-manager job to pay for what?

His sister's college tuition was the only reason he took the job, he told the New Yorker; by his own account he had no dream or ambition of his own back then.

Why could Miyazaki take full control of the project that became Demon's Souls?

The company already considered it a failure, so no bad idea of his could make things worse; the finished game then bombed at the Tokyo Game Show before sales slowly picked up.

What childhood habit did Miyazaki cite as a major influence on his design philosophy?

Reading English books beyond his level left gaps that he filled with imagination and the illustrations, much as his games leave players to piece their stories together.

Which console maker approached FromSoftware in 2012, leading to the creation of Bloodborne?

Sony came calling as work on a Dark Souls expansion wrapped up, and Miyazaki answered by asking to talk about next-gen hardware; the result was the PS4 exclusive Bloodborne.

Which streamer needed 1,070 deaths and a therapy session to finish Shadow of the Erdtree?

Kai Cenat streamed for almost 100 hours straight to beat the expansion, weeks after his first run through the base game had cost him 1,700 deaths.

Shadow of the Erdtree earned Miyazaki a 2025 nomination for which science fiction and fantasy writers' award?

The Nebula Award for game writing shortlisted Miyazaki for the expansion, a writers' prize for a game that tells most of its story through fragments and item descriptions.

What gave away the name Nightreign weeks before its official reveal?

A trademark filing gave away the name and nothing else: Bandai Namco registered the single word 'Nightreign' in Japan, so it pointed to an unannounced game with nothing to tie it to Elden Ring until the reveal.

What are the personal storylines of Nightreign's playable characters called?

Completing certain Remembrances changes how the game ends: finishing Wylder's or Ironeye's, for example, unlocks an ending of their own.

Which Dark Souls III boss joined Nightreign's night-boss roster in its December 2025 DLC?

The Demon Prince never comes alone: in Dark Souls III he rises from the body of whichever falls last of two lesser demons, the Demon in Pain and the Demon from Below, and both came to Nightreign with him.

Which heavily requested feature did FromSoftware patch into Nightreign two months after its launch?

Two-player expeditions arrived in a July 2025 patch; the game had launched for solo players or trios only, and duos were not planned until player feedback changed the studio's mind.

On Japan's 2022 retail chart, what did all nine games ranked above Elden Ring have in common?

They were Nintendo Switch games: Elden Ring's PS4 version was the lone outsider in Japan's top ten, finishing only tenth at home in a year when it was the second-best seller in the United States.