The Elden Ring boss, Rennala, was once a regal queen but fell to grief when her partner left her for Marika. When the Raya Lucaria Academy rebelled against the royals, she was locked up in the grand library along with juvenile scholars. When the players battle her, the fight is quite unlike others in the game, with many creepy scholars crawling on the floor. Childish singing, flying books, a strange gold egg, and a second phase under a full moon all stand out as unique.
Many fans are still trying to piece together the lore for Rennala, especially since her fight is one of the more elegant and visually stunning in the game. Her fight is actually reminiscent of boss fights from a certain series, one that has a focus on tragic women: Fatal Frame. The game is not comparable to Elden Ring, as it is a horror game that uses a camera to fight ghosts. However, the Rennala fight in its visuals and design do have a lot in common with Fatal Frame and its powerful women bosses.
The Similarities In Design
The grand library in Elden Ring is quite dark with only dim lighting available. On the floor, there are scholars crawling (like some Fatal Frame ghosts) with creepy smiles on their faces. The opening scene of them has the creepiest giggling as they reveal their faces in the darkness. Above them is Rennala, who holds a gold egg as though it were a baby while floating in a baby basket.
The player has to kill the crawling scholars to get to her while dodging floating objects such as books being thrown at them. Singing scholars, in particular, must be killed to get to Rennala. Despite attacking them, these scholars and Rennala appear to be in their own little world, giggling and singing throughout the bloodshed. All Rennala seems to care about is her egg. The scholars are weak and die to just one hit, and Rennala is easy pickings until the second phase. In the second phase, players are taken to another location with just blue open space and the moon for a one-on-one battle against Rennala's magic.
Everything in these two phases oozes Fatal Frame type of battle storytelling, from its setting to its hints of both sorrow and eeriness. Fans are still unsure what the scholars are and why they are crawling and singing. However, they are just like minor ghosts in Fatal Frame in the sense that they gang up on a player. However, if the player doesn't watch themselves, they will get hit by an attack. Fatal Frame ghosts, just like these scholars, can psychically throw things at the player.
The boss battle music for Sakuya in Fatal Frame 4 is actually quite similar to the music used in Rennala's first phase. In the second phase, the location is exactly like the setting of the fight with Ose in Fatal Frame 5, except the sky isn't red (but it still has that full moon over water). Of course, the outcome of these fights are different, as Rennala is not a final boss while these Fatal Frame bosses that are like hers are the final bosses of their respective games.
What This Comparison Shows About Rennala
Elden Ring lore is very subtle while Fatal Frame is a little more straightforward. Still, the fact that this boss fight is so Fatal Frame-like can lend a little insight to what Rennala's lore is like. Fatal Frame bosses are all tragic female figures, often those that have fallen in love to the point that they could not complete their sacred duty. From what little is known about Rennala, she is actually quite similar in this regard as well. She was in love with Radagon, who abandoned her for Marika. Like the priestesses of Fatal Frame, Rennala had a big duty, and that was to be queen. Obviously, she is not doing that job anymore and only cares for her gold egg.
The gold egg was a gift from Radagon, and fans are still figuring out what the deal is with it. Some think the egg is some vessel to reincarnate Rennala's husband, while others think she is attempting to make the perfect child and keeps failing, which is what all the odd scholars are - failed attempts. Either way, the backstory taps into very feminine tragic stories the same way Fatal Frame does.
Video games have the habit of giving female bosses more elegance and motivations on the side of love and nurture (which can sometimes be quite twisted) while giving male bosses more violence and motivations on the side of vengeance and power. It seems Rennala is one of those examples of typical female bosses in terms of lore, based on what is known and what is hinted.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.