FromSoftware’s games are no strangers to horrid beasts and awful people. Even as far back as King’s Field and Armored Core, oppressive and lonely atmospheres have been a part of its game design. Most of FromSoftware’s fantasy output, even before Demon’s Souls, occupied the dark fantasy genre, and many of its mecha games involve post-apocalyptic settings ruled over by corrupt governments and mega-corporations. Things didn’t improve when characters were placed at the forefront of FromSoftware’s work, as their madness and atrocities were on full display. At its worst, it became hard to tell which characters were trustworthy.
That brings the discussion to the Souls-dominated era of FromSoftware. Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring all revolve around the core tenets of dark fantasy writing, and have grisly beasts and horrifying lore to match. Elden Ring is the culmination of all of this, packing some of the worst sights FromSoftware and George R. R. Martin could come up with into one enormous game. Dark holes with nameless beasts, forces devoted to ethnic cleansing, and magic gone awry will all cross the player’s path. However, some monsters stand head and shoulders above the rest, and the loathsome Dung Eater may be the worst thing Souls fans have encountered yet.
Spoilers ahead for Elden Ring.
The Dung Eater is a Strange and Imposing Figure
The first time players see the Dung Eater is in the illustrated stills of the opening. After the demigods are covered, the player is greeted with the sight of several of the most famous Tarnished revived by the grace of gold. It’s not obvious on the first viewing, but most of the Tarnished are shown shortly after their original deaths.
Gideon is seen properly buried, Goldmask appears to have a spilled drink on-hand to suggest foul play, and Hoarah Loux has been strung up after falling in battle. While some of these Tarnished were murdered, none were lynched like the Dung Eater, who was hung in the middle of a town square. While most will be distracted by his comical name, there are already hints that this individual is deserving of particular loathing.
It will likely be some time before the player encounters the Dung Eater. After the Roundtable Hold has been unlocked and some progress has been made on the quest to claim the shards of the Elden Ring, there will be some commotion in the Hold.
Roderika, the local Spirit Tuner, will warn you that the spirits on the other side of the roundtable are wailing in fear of some sort of curse. If the player ignores her pleas to keep their distance, they will find a newly opened door elsewhere in the hub, within which a rotting pile of corpses sits. Sitting upon this pile is the red phantom form of the Dung Eater, who has somehow infiltrated the Hold as a Bloody Finger despite most rooms being magically warded from danger.
The More is Learned of the Dung Eater, The Worse He Becomes
An invader in an unexpected space in Elden Ring is bound to be an unnerving sight. Fortunately, the Dung Eater is compelled to comply with the Hold’s rules, and the player will get the rare chance to speak with him. This is where any preconceived notions of the Dung Eater’s nature will come crashing down, as while he is a man of few words, what he says is telling. The Dung Eater speaks poetically, almost like he’s in a euphoric state of curses and being reviled by all. After noting the player’s lack of understanding, he will ask them to leave him in peace. It’s an eerily friendly interaction with what is seemingly a madman, and it will only get worse.
Late in the player’s travels, they may come across strange corpses bound to chairs in out-of-the-way locations. On each of these is an item called a Seedbed Curse. According to their item description, these things grow on corpses of those killed and defiled by the Dung Eater. Their purpose is to prevent dead souls from returning to the Erdtree and reincarnating, leaving them eternally cursed. The Dung Eater’s sole objective is to spread this curse, and if the player confronts him about this, they will get the chance to help him. The fact that this motiveless killer, who wishes he’d been born an Omen, has enough charisma to train a successor is disconcerting.
The Dung Eater Perpetuates Elden Ring’s Worst Atrocities
The player is given a key to the Dung Eater’s cell in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath Leyndell, home to many malformed Omens and the arguably-worse Mohg. The corporeal Dung Eater’s confusion when the player meets him suggests a disconnect between his spirit and body that is at odds with normal Souls invasions. The player may also notice the black sun with a face on his armor, marking the Dung Eater as a twisted mirror of Dark Souls’ Solaire and adding to his wrongness even more.
The freed Dung Eater vows to kill again, and his invader self will challenge the player to a duel to prove they’re worthy of receiving his curse. If the friendly Blackguard’s quest has been completed, then his defiled corpse will be the backdrop of the fight. The Dung Eater fights like a normal NPC, but players will be taken aback by how much health he has, as if he refuses to die even when the whole world is at his throat.
The defeated red phantom will return to the Hold and instruct the Tarnished to bring his body Seedbed Curses. Said body has been restrained like the Dung Eater’s victims, making it clear that he is attempting to groom the player into his next iteration. If the player completes the quest, he will die giving birth to the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse. This can be used in the finale to obtain the Blessing of Despair ending, dooming all inhabitants of the Lands Between to fall to the Seedbed Curse.
Fortunately, training an apprentice means the Dung Eater must leave himself exposed, and the player has plenty of opportunities to kill him. And if they want to give him a taste of his own medicine, they can force-feed him the potion Seluvis devised for enslaving Nepheli. Robbing him of his identity and reducing him to a mere puppet is the only thing shown to terrify the Dung Eater, but considering the misery he wreaks upon everyone else, it may be what he deserves.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
