An Elden Ring fan has re-imagined Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy in an 8-bit NES style. An optional Elden Ring boss, first encountered as the God-Devouring Serpent, Rykard was brother to Ranni and Radahn.
Fans will easily remember Rykard as the horrific and giant snake beast with a human face that is obsessed with eating things to gain their power. While Elden Ring has a lot of uncomfortable or disturbing boss designs, Rykard offers a grotesque and visceral experience for the player, even after his defeat. Unlike most defeated enemies in Elden Ring, Rykard’s body will partially remain after his defeat, and the player can find his devotee, Tanith, trying to gain his power by eating him. While the game covers many themes and tones, the scene makes for more of a horror-themed experience, rather than a broader epic fantasy.
It’s no surprise then that in Reddit user Praetor64’s NES style rendering of the Lord of Blasphemy, Rykard looks as though he would fit right in to a Castlevania or Metroid title. Considering that Rykard’s aim was to become strong enough to “devour the very gods,” it’s somewhat understandable that he would need to become quite a fearsome creature. Despite his now monstrous nature, it's important to remember that Rykard was once human, and even had a daughter. Rykard's daughter thankfully may have a happy ending, which is rare in Elden Ring. Depicted in pixel-perfect detail, Rykard carries a heavy sense of foreboding horror with a skin-crawling color palette in Praetor64’s art.
On the other end of the fan art spectrum, one fan redesigned Elden Ring bosses in a Cuphead style. While it would be interesting to see Rykard in that style, the color palette and definition of the Nintendo Entertainment System are restricted to quite a tight limit, but also offer a unique texture to the art, and this texture matches Rykard’s atmosphere perfectly. Fellow fans posted to say that Praetor64 should continue and illustrate the other bosses too.
It would be good to see such detailed art be carried over to the rest of the Elden Ring cast. Though, perhaps the art style is best suited for the grotesque characters. If Praetor64 were to continue illustrating Elden Ring characters in this style, Rykard’s siblings could also be a good starting point. Rykard was brother to two of the other major characters; Starscourge Radahn and Ranni the Witch. One Elden Ring fan’s art shows Rykard and his siblilngs reunited, and is also somewhat horrifying due to Rykard’s presence. All three characters are incredibly powerful in the lore of Elden Ring, with Ranni even having a major effect on the plot, but Rykard has an air of horror and mystery making him the perfect subject for this art style.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.