Elden Ring is the latest in FromSoftware’s most recent repertoire of games, which have made a huge impact on the games industry. The most famous aspect to these games is their difficulty. This brand of “hard but fair” gameplay felt equally fresh, but also like a throwback to past unforgiving retro style games. The next most famous element from these FromSoftware games are the boss fights. These act as difficulty checks for the next part of the game while also being the central focus and primary goal for the player.
But another influential element of FromSoftware’s latest games, like Elden Ring, is the art design. Areas, NPCs, and especially bosses are all intricately designed be unique and visually striking, while also fitting within the game's lore. These visual designs have inspired countless fan artists to recreate moments and characters, especially those that are described in the game’s story, but never explicitly seen in game.
This is what a fan artist on Twitter named Naka_da_Slacka has done, as they share some fan art of boss character Mohg, Lord of Blood, carrying another character, Miquella. In Elden Ring’s story, this is this the moment Mohg steals Miquella from the Haligtree. This is a very important point in the game’s lore, which many players believe will be the subject of Elden Ring’s expected DLC. It is also a moment the player will never see in game, as its only very briefly depicted in the game's opening cutscene.
Even in the game’s opening cutscene, it is never explained that it is Mohg and Miquella on screen, which is one of the many visual clues the game leaves for the player to figure out themselves. It is likely that this ambiguity in the telling of Elden Ring’s story is what inspires fan artists like Naka_da_Slacka in the first place. When an important story point is left to the imagination, naturally fan artists will want to more fully depict that moment. Naka_da_Slacka’s fan art works as a zoomed-out version of the image seen in the game's opening, for players who have beaten Mohg in-game, and more fully understand the context of the moment they’re seeing.
Naka_da_Slacka’s appears to be a very prolific fan-artist as they have similarly stunning pieces of fan-art depicting other Elden Ring bosses like Godrick the Grafted, along with bosses from the Dark Souls series, such as the Abyss Watchers. Naka_da_Slacka’s art is equal-parts detailed and stylized, making it perfect for capturing the boss designs of FromSoftware games.
Elden Ring continues to inspire fan artists, and some not only want to recapture a favorite character or boss, but also re-imagine the game itself. Some artists have switched Elden Ring’s genre or imagined the characters in entirely different scenarios.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
