One of the great questions of Elden Ring's lore is the nature and definition of Empyreans, who consist of Malenia, Ranni, Marika, Miquella, and the Gloam-eyed Queen in-game. These people are not a race, but share a condition, and that condition is that they have the ability to be a container for the influence of an Outer God. Whether Elden Ring's Empyreans are born or selected is unknown.

According to tradition of the Lands Between, only Empyreans may be rulers. Empyreans also are typically gifted with a shadow companion by the Greater Will and are expected to have a consort to assist them. Between the five known Empyreans, fans have been piecing together what constitutes an Empyrean and how they work.

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Elden Ring: Known Empyreans

Malenia and Miquella.

Ranni, Miquella, and Malenia are the three Empyreans whose backgrounds are most known. Notably, all three are children of Radagon, but not all children of Radagon are Empyrean. This status also has nothing to do with their demi-god status, as characters like Radahn, Godwyn, Rykard, Mohg, and Morgott are not Empyreans either. This fact has made some fans theorize that Empyreans are likely chosen rather than born, possibly by the Greater Will itself.

Ranni is the character with the most compelling evidence about the nature of Empyreans. This is because she did not want to be Empyrean, because being Empyrean means having a preset destiny, to possibly become a god-like Marika for the Greater Will. Ranni destroyed her own body in order to escape this destiny, which may mean being Empyrean is somehow linked to the body. This leads to an opposing theory that Empyreans are born rather than chosen, but it could also be a mixture of both. It could also be that death, no matter if partial, whole, or destined, ends this.

The two Empyreans shrouded in greater mystery are Marika and the Gloam-eyed Queen. Marika serves the Greater Will, but how she became Empyrean is unknown. She was one of the Numen race, but outside that, much about her is unknown. The Gloam-eyed Queen is an especially mysterious Empyrean because fans have not yet truly identified her. She used to have the Rune of Death until it was taken by Marika's shadow to seal away Destined Death. A common theory is that Melina is the Gloam-eyed Queen in secret, but outside some possible commonalities, there's little evidence. Very little information exists about the Gloam-eyed Queen to know how she is Empyrean, but descriptions of her have made her Empyrean identity canon.

Elden Ring: Empyrean Shadows

blaidd-elden-ring-tragic-character-npc

Two Empyreans are known to have wolf shadows bestowed upon them by the Greater Will: Marika received Maliketh and Ranni received Blaidd. Lore makes it seem that every Empyrean has such a shadow, but Malenia, Miquella, and the Gloam-eyed Queen's shadows have not been discovered in the game, if they ever did exist. What is known about the shadows through Maliketh and Blaidd is that they are incredibly loyal to their assigned Empyrean. However, they are also part of the Greater Will's plan, which means they will go insane if their masters betray the Greater Will in any way. This happens to Blaidd if Ranni's questline is completed, really marking him as a lovable and tragic character.

Consorts are not given, but expected of an Empyrean that replaces Marika. She had two consorts at different times, Godfrey and Radagon. If players get Ranni's ending, she actually replaces Marika (though under a different Outer God) and the player character becomes her consort to help her rule. Miquella was ultimately kidnaped by Mohg because he wanted Miquella to replace Marika under a different Outer God and become his consort. Fans theorized that Miquella was likely the closest Empyrean to replacing Marika and would have possibly had Malenia as his consort since the two were so close, even though they are twins. He seemed to have some sort of plan for the two of them under the Haligtree, likely one that could have healed their unique conditions and put them in power if in defiance of The Greater Will.

Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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