Fans of FromSoftware’s game library have proven their dedication to the developer each time the Japanese-based company has announced a title—2022’s blockbuster release, Elden Ring, is no exception. The game’s fervent following redefined success for the company, and amongst its new fans are scores of data-miners that have meticulously searched through Elden Ring‘s game files.
Due to the mechanical depth of FromSoftware’s games, several interesting tidbits emerged from these searches, shedding light on some of the game’s incredibly dense and obscure lore. While not every find has resulted in noteworthy information, a few specific instances have yielded some fascinating material for the community.
10 The Name Of Radahn’s Horse Is Mentioned In The Game’s AI
Elden Ring made quite a splash in the gaming community with its majestic, well-written array of boss enemies. Still, even among these characters, General Radahn stands out for the acclaim that he has garnered. The Starscourge has since been reduced to a husk of his former self by Malenia’s Scarlet Rot. However, before the events of the game, the character was a far cry from the mindless beast that the Tarnished encounters, as evidenced by his surprisingly sweet relationship with his horse, Leonard.
The lore of Elden Ring references how General Radahn learned Gravity Magic in order to continue riding his childhood horse, which would have been crushed under his tremendous weight, and thanks to the file name for Radahn’s AI (“RadarnAndLeonard”), players now know the name of his trusty steed: Leonard.
9 Fia’s Champions Are Generated By The Player
The Fia questline is one of the most lore-dense in all of Elden Ring, allowing players the opportunity to learn more about Death Blight, Lichdragon Fortissax, and perhaps most importantly, Godfrey the Golden. At one point, Fia tasks the player with defeating her champions: three, seemingly random Tarnished with varying abilities.
While fans were reviewing the game code employed in relation to Fia’s quests, a few keen observers noticed that whenever the player hugs the Deathbed Companion, their current loadout is uploaded to the Elden Ring servers. This provides the character models of Fia’s Champions and adds a unique flair to every Tarnished’s playthrough.
8 The Ulcerated Tree Spirit Was Originally Intended For Dark Souls III
In one of Dark Souls III‘s promotional images, a dark, shadowy figure can be seen lurking on the horizon. However, nothing within its confines seemed to resemble the creature when the game came out. While rumors about this potential enemy subsided after the game’s DLC also lacked any information related to the matter. Nearly six years later, Elden Ring would eventually connect the image with another mystery from Dark Souls III, centered around an unused Boss AI.
The exact same AI, titled “SnakeSoul,” from Dark Souls III, was found in the code for a familiar enemy from the Lands Between: the Ulcerated Tree Spirit. This, coupled with its near-identical outline to the unused Dark Souls III design, made it clear to players that the Elden Ring abomination was originally planned for the final installment of the Dark Souls III trilogy.
7 Each Of The Colosseums Has A Fleshed-Out Interior
At a few locations (Northern Limgrave, Northern Caelid, and Southern Leyndell) across the Lands Between, the player can find three huge Colosseums; however, these massive structures have been curiously inaccessible since Elden Ring‘s release.
With some minor tweaks to the game’s code, some players have recently entered these structures and found what seems to be a potential PvP arena inside. Although nothing currently spawns inside the area (minus a single, mundane NPC battle that inconsistently pops up) to confirm this theory, unused rank-up textures found in the game’s files insinuate that it could likely be true.
6 Elden Ring Could Have Featured A Bestiary
There are countless enemies found within Elden Ring, ranging from mundane wolves to Lovecraft-inspired horrors. Unfortunately, taxonomy doesn’t seem to be of the utmost importance in the Lands Between. Still, based on some unused icons found in the game’s files, FromSoftware developers may have at one point intended to provide an in-game bestiary to players.
All-in-all, 128 unique images were found within the game: an even split of shaded and unshaded icons corresponding to 64 different NPCs. Even those in no way cover all of the game’s enemies. They are clearly related to some sort of missing feature from the game.
5 Radahn’s Boss Arena Contains A Hidden Secret
The battle against General Radahn has proven to be among the community’s favorites, a large part of this due to his awe-inspiring display at the beginning of the second phase. Once the son of Radagon and Renalla’s health reaches a certain point, he launches to the skies, relying on his body’s memory of gravity magic to meteor back down into the boss arena.
This attack is an undeniably great experience, but according to the layout of Radahn’s boss arena, it may have originally been intended to be an even more intense experience. Elden Ring players found that just under the surface of Radahn’s desolate graveyard lies what appears to be a large crater, indicating that FromSoftware could have planned to have the red-haired behemoth change the entire landscape of his arena following this attack.
4 Godrick the Grafted Has More Dialogue In The Game Than Previously Thought
Godrick the Grafted provides the Tarnished with a fantastic-early game boss fight, challenging those who can clear Elden Ring‘s first legacy dungeon, Stormveil Castle. While Godrick is by no means the toughest enemy awaiting the game’s players, he rightfully clings to his relationship to the legendary Godwyn the Golden, an obsession that is addressed cut content.
Within Elden Ring‘s audio files, unheard dialogue can be found in which Godrick waxes poetic about his “golden lineage” and status as one of “the true and rightful heirs” to the Elden Throne. The clip reinforces the defining traits of a character that didn’t receive much screen-time, leaving players to wonder why this content didn’t make it to the final product.
3 Each Region In Elden Ring Corresponds To A Specific Range Of Levels
Elden Ring has introduced FromSoftware’s signature game difficulty to millions of new fans. As a result, many of its players were confused by the lack of direction that characterizes most FromSoftware titles. However, according to Elden Ring‘s enemy-leveling system, which generates enemies at specific levels based on what zone they spawn in, there is a natural path through the game.
The game’s intended progression is as follows: from lowest to highest level enemies: Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Altus Plateau, Mt. Gelmir, Mountaintop of the Giants, Crumbling Farum Azula. While there are other noteworthy locations, such as Miquella’s Haligtree, this general order provides a through-line that makes the game’s difficulty feel much more appropriate.
2 Merchant Kale’s Questline Was Cut From The Game
Merchant Kale is most players’ first encounter with his nomadic race, providing an excellent introduction to the nuanced and persecuted group of the Lands Between. Based on some of Elden Ring‘s cut content, he may have initially been intended to provide even more insight than he currently does.
Without giving too many spoilers, the content revolves around the Frenzied Flame, the Great Caravan belonging to Kale’s people, and the most-vile character in Elden Ring‘s history: Shabriri. The Merchant is a beloved figure within the community, so hopefully, some version of this quest can eventually make it into the game.
1 Dragonlord Placidusax’s Arena Is Cleverly Hidden From The Player
Crumbling Farum Azula provides plenty of iconic moments, yet few, if any, come close to rivaling the awe-inspired by the Tarnished’s first look at Dragonlord Placidusax. The ancient beast, which seems to have served as the Elden Lord at some undetermined point in the past, gives the player one of the best boss fights in the entire FromSoftware library, but many fans have asked the same question: where does this battle take place?
After surveying the region with a free-floating camera, the Elden Ring community figured out that the arena for Placidusax’s boss fight is located inside the tornado that the Crumbling Farum Azula circles around. Although this is not confirmed to be the case in-universe, it is plausible given the dragon’s relationship to time.