Throughout the course of Elden Ring, the player—as the Tarnished—will face demigods, Omens, dragons, and all sorts of twisted creatures. Their rise to Elden Lord (or any other of Elden Ring’s endings) is an epic tale of defeating and defying gods, trying to sort out right and wrong in Elden Ring’s incredibly detailed, but admittedly confusing lore.
However, one wild fan theory actually suggests that Elden Ring’s story and lore are based on mushrooms. Given the cycle of death and decay seen in all FromSoftware Soulsborne games, this doesn’t seem like a stretch when lining up the evidence.
YouTuber Ziostorm started this conversation on Twitter, although there are concurring theories elsewhere too, by posting an image of a fungus commonly known as Dead Man’s Fingers. They bear quite the resemblance to The Two Fingers and Three Fingers, as well as the various hand creatures fans will fight throughout the game. Furthermore, this particular fungus typically grows near the end of injured trees and stumps; in other words, this could connect the Fingers and hands’ fungal growth to the Erdtree.
Many added their own theories to Ziostorm’s original post, with some contributions highlighting how the Erdtree may not be an actual tree, but a giant parasite feeding off the dead in the catacombs. When players complete Fia’s quest, this particular portion of the underground is consumed with tree roots that could be an older, dead Erdtree. Another user highlights how Elden Ring’s Malenia Bloom/Scarlet Aeonia is similar to Cedar Apple Rust, a type of apple that consumes Mushrooms. This could really recontextualize the Scarlet Rot, its impact on the land, and its role in the lore/story. It would even give new context to the growing Haligtree as well.
With the Erdtree existing prior to the Greater Will’s ascension, it could stand to reason that it is some mushroom that infected and killed the Erdtree, spawning the various hands around The Lands Between. It would even explain how the Two Fingers and Three Fingers came to be—as they were once a full hand. Their split ties into how the Two Fingers, The Greater Will, and all of that could be draining the life from The Lands Between, and The Three Fingers could want to end it by burning it all down.
It's an interesting theory and many seem convinced. There are a lot of other subtle hints throughout Elden Ring, and given the general use of mushrooms and decay in FromSoft games before, it would seem to make a lot of sense.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
