The demigods in Elden Ring are the primary driving forces for why things are the way they are in the Lands Between. All of them are siblings who, for the most part, are in a violent and biblical power struggle to usurp their parents' throne. As expected, such a dysfunctional family tree hides a lot of secrets and quirks beneath its bark.
Some of these details can be missed rather easily in Elden Ring, especially if the players are too preoccupied with beating these demigods. Tragic story particulars or interesting angles tend to be drowned out by player frustration, panic, or fright. But in any case, these small in-game details about the demigods ought to shed more light on their personalities and relationships.
Updated September 12, 2022 by Sid Natividad: Elden Ring has been out for a while now and people are still discovering lots of new interesting things about its characters. Elden Ring demigods, for example, are still subjects of mystery given how they control the plot yet have sparse exposition.
It was only a matter of time before some surprising discoveries about these Elden Ring demigods started popping up. Thanks to Elden Ring's rather persistent and curious players, there's much to learn and unveil regarding these enigmatic and powerful demigods. And for those who are still interested in this dysfunctional family tree, here is more hidden stuff about them.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
12 Strong Empyrean Candidates Get Wolf Bodyguards
It's well known that Blaidd is Ranni's "bodyguard" since she was one of the strongest candidates to succeed Marika in the Lands Between. Such is the case for Empyreans (with Malenia and Miquella being a special case since they're incest twins). In fact, Marika also has a canine bodyguard in the form of Maliketh.
Players might have missed it but Maliketh and even his Beast Clergyman form, Gurranq, is on all fours and has the hind legs of a canine. His snout and helmet shape are also telltale signs. Hence, Blaidd is Ranni's version of Maliketh in case she actually proceeds with the succession as the Golden Order ordained.
11 Godwyn's Corrupted Corpse Is In The Same Shape As The Lands Between
Godwyn being all over the underground areas in the Lands Between is quite puzzling, but one eagle-eyed player took his theory and discovery to Reddit. Turns out Godwyn's corpse is in the same shape as the Lands Between. It's not known whether he shaped it himself or simply conformed to the already established landmass.
However, the comparison is too uncanny and similar to be brushed off as mere coincidence, what with Elden Ring's lore being too vague and ambiguous. This could imply that Godwyn's corpse is also spreading all over the Lands Between in the same shape as the game world. It could also indicate just how much he's spreading his influence via Death Blight and Death Root.
10 Radahn's Mentor Was Presumably An Alabaster Lord
Radahn studying sorcery was also mentioned in passing, but the game never really went into detail about his mentor. It couldn't have been Rennala and Raya Lucaria Academy, otherwise, Radahn's magic would have looked similar. Instead, it's gravity magic, which is way too similar to the one practiced by the Alabaster Lord bosses in-game.
This heavily implies that Radahn took an Alabaster Lord as his mentor. Technically, these beings are aliens since they crashed into the Lands Between through meteors, as was implied by their encounters with players where some of them spawn on craters. Radahn did all that just to help his horse's back.
9 Malenia's Butterflies Are Scientifically Accurate
Whenever Malenia transforms or whenever any sign of her appears in-game (i.e. Scarlet Rot areas), players will spot some Aeonian Butterflies flying about. This was not just a mere stylistic choice to make Malenia look feminine or beautiful. Because in real life, some butterflies are always drawn to carrion or rotting organic matter.
The Purple Emperor butterfly, for example, prefers corpses over flowers. Such is also the case for Malenia's Aeonian Butterflies. They all flock to areas with heavy concentrations of rot and decay from Scarlet Rot. Hence, players can see a legion of these butterflies when Malenia finally transformed for a final time to unleash even more Scarlet Rot.
8 Their Great Runes Increase Their Size
Great Runes in Elden Ring are not just McGuffins or plot devices that serve no practical use. Apart from giving some nice stat bonuses, they also seem to increase the size of their demigod wielders. This was demonstrated in two of the main boss fights, Godrick and Morgott.
Both of those bosses actually shrink in size once they have been defeated to the point where they're just as tall as the players. As for why the player characters haven't entered their growth spurts yet despite possessing several Great Runes, some telltale signs from the endings allude to that; the player character can be seen sitting on a throne (in four endings) and those thrones are typically large.
7 Morgott/Margit Defeated Radahn
General Radahn is generally considered by most Elden Ring characters as the strongest demigod, except it seems even the strongest don't always win. Because if players watch the intro cinematic again, they'll catch a glimpse of what appears to be Morgott stabbing Radahn in the middle of a battle.
Radahn is known to have invaded Leyndell during the Shattering; the fact that Morgott is still the king in Leyndell only means that he was able to repel Radahn's invasion and defeat him both in combat and in war. The possible explanation for this is that the Erdtree panicked at the sight of invading demigods and bestowed some emergency powers to Morgott.
6 Morgott & Mohg Seem Close
Speaking of Morgott, his twin, Mohg is the "Bruno" of the family. They don't talk about him. But seeing Mohg's fixation on his stepbrother who's cursed to be forever a child, it's understandable why almost nobody in the family liked Mohg. Morgott, however, seems to tolerate or even cover for him.
It's worth noting that the two of them shared the same Two Fingers and the same Divine Tower. Even their Great Rune activation spots are placed side by side. It wouldn't be surprising if they even shared a bunk bed, figuratively speaking. Also, Morgott never called Mohg a traitor before his boss fight despite the latter serving an Outer God and also planning to topple the Erdtree.
Morgott even created a projection of Mohg in the Leyndell sewers, which explains the Mohg, the Omen boss, and why that boss fades into gold dust (like Margit or Morgott) when killed.
5 Ranni Was Originally A Redhead Too
Moving on to Radagon's side of the family, they too have their defining traits. Radahn notably inherited Radagon's cursed red hair and brandished it proudly. Rykard, based on his paintings, looks like he had pale hair. Ranni, however, also seems to have inherited the red hair.
Ranni's real body— the corpse on top of the Divine Tower of Liurnia, has tinges of red on its scalp despite being burned to a crisp. It's plausible evidence that she also got Radagon's locks. If anything, Ranni probably looked more like Melina or Malenia before she became a blue doll.
4 Everyone Loves Miquella
A poetic angle about Mohg kidnapping Miquella is that the latter is pretty much the opposite of the former. Whereas Mohg was shunned as the worst Omen, Miquella was loved by everyone, despite being cursed to remain a child forever. That's apparently the bulk of Miquella's powers as a demigod.
He can make everyone love him, both as a spell and based on his personality alone. He was the kindest among the demigods and didn't have a problem gaining devout followers (the Albinaurics). There's even an item dedicated to him— the Bewitching Branch, which lets players charm and forcibly turn enemies into allies. Too bad Mohg "loved" Miquella too much, it turned into a psychotic obsession.
3 Only Godwyn Was The Proper Heir Among Marika/Radagon's Children
The funny thing about all the demigod siblings is that nearly all of them are terrible candidates to be Marika's replacement. Morgott and Mohg were Omens, Rykard was a heretic, Radahn was a warmongering half-giant, Ranni is a god-killing doll, Miquella didn't grow, and Malenia has space rabies.
The only one who didn't have any "defect" so to speak, was Godwyn the Golden. He was more or less, the perfect demigod based on the Greater Will's ideals. That's why his death at the hands of assassins broke Marika (or provided a good motive for Marika shattering the Elden Ring).
2 Rykard & Radahn Idolize Godfrey, Their Dad/Stepdad
Of course, one of the reasons why Godwyn was the perfect child is thanks in part to his father, Godfrey or Hoarah Loux, the first Elden Lord. Apparently, it wasn't just Marika's side that admired Godfrey but also Radagon's, since both Radahn and Rykard idolize their stepdad/dad (it's really like that).
Radahn notably designed his armor with lions out of respect and admiration for Godfrey. He had been a fanboy since he was young. Meanwhile, Rykard keeps a portrait of Godfrey in Volcano Manor, implying that he also puts the former Elden Lord in high regard.
1 Rennala's Amber Egg Could Be A Miscarriage Fetus
Now for something both incredibly tragic and disturbing. The Amber Egg clutched tightly in Rennala's hands was supposedly Radagon's parting gift to her. It has a Great Rune inside though among the item descriptions are the words "Great Rune of unborn demigods," meaning one interpretation angle is that it could be her fetus that was a miscarriage.
At least, that's what the community generally likes to believe since Rennala frequently uses it to create her "sweetings." It could also just be a magical device that allows for Elden Ring's equivalent of plastic surgery and lab-grown babies, but the fact that it's an egg and the description implies something else.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.