Elden Ring is filled with lore to be dissected, ranging from character backgrounds like Radahn to largely non-human characters like Omens and Empyreans. The same can be said for the gods of Elden Ring, as while the Tarnished will indubitably interact with The Greater Will, others may play smaller roles or only be mentioned in item/character descriptions.
While players will face demi-gods, it seems Outer Gods have no physical form—save perhaps The Greater Will, which is explained later. They do seem to be conscience beings, picking and choosing their particular influences over the world of Elden Ring, but their designations are erratic in many ways. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ELDEN RING.
Elden Ring: The Greater Will
Obviously, the main god-like being of Elden Ring is The Greater Will—it’s a lot like The Force in Star Wars in a way. It’s a power that’s always there and that some can draw on or communicate with, but not everyone. The Greater Will dictates the events of the Land Between, and many seek to serve it. This is often communicated through The Two Fingers and, in a way, The Elden Lord, Marika, and The Golden Order all serve The Greater Will.
Now, no other Outer God is rebelled against so much, or at least so clearly, as The Greater Will. Its Golden Order appears to be how life, death, physics, and all of that operate, and in becoming Elden Lord, this Will is largely maintained—if changed, as no Tarnished should become an Elden Lord per the Golden Order, it seems. Many believe The Elden Beast is an incarnation of The Greater Will, and it makes sense given everything that unfolds in the story that this Outer God does take a form. Others do not though.
If Outer Gods impose an order of some sort, it’s worth keeping in mind when discussing the other gods. The Greater Will’s Golden Order was the idea and the function of the world, and it even controlled death or Destined Death for a time—which likely plays into this order somehow.
Elden Ring: The Frenzied Flame
In contrast to The Greater Will is The Frenzied Flame, which allies with and communicates through The Three Fingers. Between these two gods, players meet a whole hand, and that likely means something. The Frenzied Flame seems to be the opposite of order, as its goal is to burn the entire world and life to ashes. In one Elden Ring ending, the player becomes Lord of the Frenzied Flame, and Melina sets out to deliver to them Destined Death.
Elden Ring: The Formless Mother
Not much is known about this Outer God, other than she is known as the Mother of Truth. So, in her order of sorts, it appears to be something to do with truth vs. lies, purity vs. corruption. It appears she is sealed away under The Lands Between somewhere, as Lord of Blood Mohg once stood before her, and because of his intent and perhaps because of his Omen nature, his blood was burned.
Elden Ring’s Outer God of Scarlet Rot
As part of some order, it appears that there is some cycle of reincarnation at play. It’s believed that those cursed with Scarlet Rot are those who have been born too many times, based on tidbits of Lore in the game. So, Malenia’s rebirth of some sort is how she is cursed by this God, leading to Caelid becoming filled with Rot. This cycle of reincarnation could be some other form of order, given how death is paramount in all of these. But, still, the only other thing players know about this God is that it is sealed beneath Lake Rot—as it describes the essence of an Outer God being sealed away somehow.
Elden Ring’s: Outer God of Death and the Death Birds
This Outer God seeks to restore True Death to the world as part of its Order, perhaps connecting it somehow to the ideas of reincarnation or Destined Death in Elden Ring. It appears the Twin Bird, mother of all Deathbirds, is the envoy to the Outer God—like the Two Fingers and Three Fingers. It’s unclear with other gods, but it appears they all have some form of envoy.
Elden Ring’s Outer God of the Dark Moon
This God seems connected to the sorceries of the Academy, Rennala, and her daughter, Ranni. The Order of this god seems to be eternal darkness and/or control over the stars. To what ends is unclear, even if players choose to do Ranni’s quest in Elden Ring and choose her ending, but it’s about taking control back from the Greater Will—at least, it seems, from Ranni’s perspective.
In contrast, Castle Sol seems to suggest that there were some worshippers of the sun in The Lands Between, but that's not made clear if it's an actual god or more of a cult-like situation.
Elden Ring’s God of Dragons
Lore for Dragonlord Placidusax reveals that it was essentially the Elden Lord in the age before the Erdtree, but the god itself is not named. What seems likely is that the Erdtree is some symbol of The Greater Will, and prior to it, there was an older order, with its own champion like The Elden Lord, with its own envoy, that controlled The Lands Between. Godwyn is said to have played a major role with the dragons.
Elden Ring’s Outer Fire God
There is also The Fire God, as worshipped by the Fire Giants of Elden Ring at some point. Perhaps this Fire God and the Storm God competed for control, and it was Marika’s and The Greater Will’s choices that led to both being cast out or seal away. To be fair, this Fire God and The Frenzied Flame could be the same, but the colors are different. Perhaps The Frenzied Flame is what remains after the defeat of the Fire Giants, explaining the color change.
Elden Ring’s Outer Blood God
There are a couple of references to a Blood God as well, though even less is known about it. A lot of the language surrounding all of this does infer a couple of things about the Blood God and all Outer Gods in Elden Ring: they operate to maintain, defend, or create some type of Order, they all have Envoys by which they speak to, and they all have a Lord that chooses their actions.
It’ll likely be a while before the whole story of Elden Ring is pieced together, but understanding the Gods, and hopefully one day, Destined Death’s role in all of this may make it clearer.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.