Elden Ring's bosses are all unique and challenging in their own way. However, the Starscourge Radahn encounter stands out from the crowd of regular Soulsborne scrimmages. This epic battle makes players truly feel like they're fighting a creature of god-like abilities, and its ending makes digging into Radahn's past all the more enticing.
Despite being an optional Elden Ring boss, General Radahn played a very important role in the events of the Shattering and is a major part of the twisted backgrounds of the Lands Between's demigods. However, the rich lore of Radahn's rise to prominence and fall from grace can be missed by players who don't dig beyond the surface level when playing open-world games.
7 He Looked Up to Godfrey, The First Elden Lord
Despite being the son of Rennala and Radagon, Radahn's biggest role model in his early days was Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, as players can learn from reading the item descriptions from Radahn's armor set.
Given Radahn's military inclinations, it is not surprising that he had looked up to Godfrey. After all, he was the Lord of the Battlefield, a truly formidable warrior who managed to conquer the warring factions of the Lands Between and bend their will to serve the Golden Order.
6 Radahn Mastered Gravity Magic To Keep Riding His Horse
One of the most intriguing aspects of General Radahn's character is the great affection he harbors for his horse, Leonard. As stated in the description of Radahn's Great Rune, he started learning Gravity Magic in Sellia because he couldn't bear the thought of being separated from Leonard, a scrawny horse who would otherwise be incapable of supporting Radahn's weight.
Despite being one of the most powerful and frightening demigods in the Lands Between, Radahn's love for Leonard adds a human touch to this already complex character.
5 His Mentor Was An Alabaster Lord
Although he Caria Royal Family, Radahn did not master Gravity Magic at the Raya Lucaria Academy. Instead, he was taught the ins and outs of this form of magic by an Alabaster Lord, who belongs to an ancient race of beings with skin made out of stone.
What's interesting about this bit of Radahn's past is the fact that the Alabaster Lords were brought to life by a meteor impact thousands of years prior to the events of Elden Ring. Knowing the backstory of the Alabaster Lords and Radahn's Gravity Magic studies, his death and the meteor strike that follows becomes much more symbolic and nuanced than it seems.
4 General Radahn Conquered The Stars
Starscourge Radahn's mastery of gravity magic didn't only serve the purpose of allowing him to ride his scrawny steed. The general used everything he has learned from the Alabaster Lord to conquer the power of the stars, briefly halting the constellations looming over the Lands Between.
Although his conquering of the stars is a well-established fact in Elden Ring's lore, Radahn's motivations for doing so remain gloomy. One of the best theories as to why the General halted the stars was proposed by VaatiVidya, a YouTuber known for his detailed breakdowns of the lore in FromSoftware games. In his view, Radahn's motive was to serve the Greater Will by preventing the Nox (inhabitants of Nokron) from bringing about the Age of Stars to preserve the Golden Order.
3 Ranni And Radahn's Rivalry
Contrary to Radahn, who idolized Godfrey and the Golden Order ever since he was a boy, the Lunar Princess Ranni was always more fond of her mother's side of the family, the Caria Royals, and sought to bring an end to the Greater Will's rule by giving rise to the Age of Stars (with a lot of help from the player character).
Players who missed parts of Ranni's questline due to its confusing nature may have missed the dialogue with War Counselor Iji, who informs the Tarnished about the role of the stars in the fate of the Lands Between and Radahn's role in preventing Ranni's plan from coming to fruition.
2 Radahn Was Torn Between The Caria Family And The Golden Order
Although he has clearly chosen to pledge his loyalty to the Golden Order and follow in the footsteps of Godfrey as he proceeded to become the most feared warrior in the Lands Between, Starscourge Radahn's Carian roots have had some impact on his character early on.
HIs Carian heritage exhibits itself in how adept he was at learning Gravity Magic, as well as the General's protective attitude towards Sellia, the Town of Sorcery, inhabited by many of the sorcerers who were previously trained in Raya Lucaria.
1 Malenia Permanently Crippled Starscourge Radahn
Born with an incurable Scarlet Rot affliction, Malenia, the Blade of Miquella has managed to fiercely resist the infection from taking complete control over her actions. She was even able to become one of the greatest warriors in the Lands Between without giving into the Scarlet Rot's influence. That is until she met her match during the battle of the Caelid Wilds.
Malenia's fury caused by the near-defeat at the hands of Radahn led her to use the destructive Scarlet Aeonia power on the General, ridding the Starscourge of his sanity and permanently infecting his horse, Leonard, in the process. Ever since that moment, Radahn was crippled, unable to restore the full range of his abilities.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.