Even though it was first announced at 2019's E3, precious little is known about FromSoftware's forthcoming title Elden Ring. A collaboration between, Dark Souls' creator Hidetaka Miyazaki, and A Song of Fire and Ice author George R. R. Martin, Elden Ring is said to be an open-world spiritual successor to the Dark Souls franchise, renown for its deep, intricate, and often tragic lore. But with next to no information to go on about the Elden Ring's story, dedicated fans have taken it upon themselves to fill the void.
Most of Elden Ring's fake lore can be found on Reddit, in the r/Eldenring forum, where memes and stories about the game's fan-made fiction have their own content tag. In fact, such posts have become so prevalent that there is a dedicated mode for hiding fake lore posts from the subreddit. These lore entries range from humorous and absurd to well-crafted and somber, that would be right at home with lore entries about Dark Souls' strongest foes. Many of the most popular fake characters have gone on to become reoccurring memes.
While some fake lore posts are low effort memes, many Elden Ring fans go the extra mile when conjuring their counterfeit lore. Several entries are accompanied by rich descriptions of boss fights, complete with multiple phases, well-defined combat mechanics, and cruel tricks that would be right at home in a FromSoftware game.
The Source Material
Apart from the basic premise of Elden Ring—an open-world adventure featuring mounted combat, set in a land strewn with ruins and dungeons, rather than conventional RPG towns bustling with NPCs—Elden Ring seems to draw influence from Norse and Celtic mythology. The game's eponymous artifact—which may not be a physical ring at all—has been shattered by "someone, or something," as seen in the game's sole trailer.
All the characters have been shown to have cracked, stone-like flesh, and either vibrant red or ashen hair. The red sky of the world is said to be ablaze, possibly due to the shattering of the ring. And, apart from the trailer's evocative visuals, which include a king (or possibly queen) haunted by a host of arms, a Valkyrie-like woman with a bronze prosthetic, and a knight rushing forward with a lance, that is all that is known about Elden Ring since it was announced in 2019.
Real Passion, Fake Bosses
A year ago, VaatiVidya, arguably the most popular YouTuber covering, critiquing, and analyzing FromSoftware titles, held an art competition for the best fake bosses created for Elden Ring so far, and stated that he received "literally hundreds" of submissions, many of which rival professional concept artists. Some of these submissions came with rich backstories, detailing the characters involvement with the Elden Ring, other bosses, and the customizable player character. One group of dedicated players even cobbled together a fan-made Elden Ring gameplay trailer.
On the subreddit, the most popular character that has emerged from the fake lore discussions is unquestionably Glaive Master Hodir, who has received fictional invites to Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, competing backstories, and even tailor-made music for the character's boss fight by Reddit user, u/ongoaviv1.
Memes and More
The Elden Ring subreddit is extremely dense with inside jokes, already rivaling Dark Souls and Bloodborne's collection of memes. Most of these memes are devoted to FromSoftware's legacy of brutally difficult boss fights, though some of the gags make reference to creatures from other games. Speculation that an enemy similar to the pokemon, Wooper, will make an appearance is particularly popular.
Users often refer to themselves as "hollows," and make reference to their relative hollowness. The term is a nod to FromSoftware's Dark Souls series, where hollowness refers to undead entities' relative lingering humanity and vitality.
The most popular type of fake lore post by far, however, are fictional accounts of the game itself. Many of the made-up bosses and characters that have been created are described as having distinct weapons, attack phases, and tricks. Reddit users compare their strategies for these fake fights, debate the best builds—for systems that are pure fabrication and speculation—and rank the game's imagined challenges from hardest to easiest.
Elden Ring's fake lore community is tight-knit, good-humored, and above all, passionate about the forthcoming game. Despite their hunger for information, and concerns that Elden Ring may even be cancelled, some users have had so much fun concocting their own lore that they have even expressed gratitude that relatively little has been revealed so far. Some users are also holding out hope that Miyazaki and Martin will include a nod to their efforts in-game.
Elden Ring was announced to be in development for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One. No release date has been announced.
