Elden Ring: Shadow of Erdtree

Elden Ring: Shadow of Erdtreeintroduced a wide variety of new items, enemies, and areas for fans to explore. All of this provides fascinating new clues about the game’s mysterious lore and mythology, and establishes connections between the Land of Shadows (or Shadow Realm) and the Lands Between. One such connection is between new enemies Bloodfiend and Mohg, Lord of Blood. Not coincidentally, the only way to enter the Land of Shadows and access the DLC content is by defeating Mohg in Mohgwyn Palace and interacting with Miquella’s corpse inside the cocoon at the back of the chamber.

The Bloodfiends are clearly linked to the same ancient civilization as Mohg, and are worshipers of the Formless Mother, one of the Outer Gods in Elden Ring tradition. Details surrounding the Bloodfiends, the tribe or cult that grew up around the powers of the Formless Mother, and the Bloodboon ritual itself are provided through descriptions of items around the Shadow Realm and the Lands Between. To fully understand the overlap and evaluate how Shadow of Erdtree’As the Bloodfiend’s enemies contribute to the established lore, it’s worth taking a deep dive into everything that is known about Bloodfiends and their significance in Elden Ring.

Bloodfiend Items Reveal More About Them

Weapons like the Bloodfiend arm and sacred spear provide lore details

As with everyone Elden Ring tradition, looking closely at item descriptions is the main source of information, and it’s worth sampling both the base game and SOTE to get a complete sense of who and what the Bloodfiends are. Some obvious overlaps surround Formless Mother. The sacred enchantment, Blood Benefit

found in the Lands Between, mentions “the mother of truth,” like this “the body of the Formless Mother.“In the same way, the Bloody Sacred Meat

consumable in the Shadow Realm, a “bloodfiends delicacy,” is a flower that grows from the blood of “the wound of the Formless Mother.”

THE Blood Donation Ritual

and Bloodfiends’ Bloodboon abilities require Tarnished”pierce the body of the Formless Mother.” Another significant connection between the two kingdoms can be found by comparing Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear

and the Bloodfiend’s Sacred Spear

. The spears are described as “instruments of communion with an external god“, and both include the note: “The mother of truth desires a wound.” There are also mentions of a “blood ritual” and “blood offerings” in Ashes of the Bloodfiend Hexer

the Blood Demon Arm

Bloodfiend’s Sacred Spear, the Bloodfiend’s Fork

and Exultation of the Lord of Blood

.

Additional descriptions of Bloodfiends in Ashes of the Bloodfiend Hexer

point “the mother of truth” and “blood rituals,” and provide deeper information about “a subjugated tribe [that] discovered a distorted deity among the ravages of war, and they were transformed into blood demons.” THE Inheritance of Outer God

can also expand the Formless Mother, based on where she is found in Prospect Town. Its description says: “the clan, who lost everything in the great fires, looked upon the corpse of their ancestor, normally an act of sanctity, and saw in his shadow a distorted deity.” See the chart below for a breakdown of Bloodfiend-related items and lore details.

History of Bloodfiend Bloodboon rituals in Elden Ring

Mohg and the Bloodfiends participate in the same ritual in SOTE and Elden Ring

Looking closer at the Bloodboon ritual, the first introduction to it is with Mohg, using the Sacred Spear of Moghwyn to cast the Bloodboon Ritual at the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum. THE Purifying Crystal Tear

will counterattack the “de Mohg”terrible blood rite“, and defeating him grants passage to the Shadow Realm. However, this same ritual can be seen when players enter Rivermouth Cave, performed by none other than a group of Bloodfiends, with the leader thrusting a ritual spear identically to Mohg during his ritual. All signs point to a deep connection between Mohg and the Bloodfiends, particularly through blood ritual.

The ritual involves “communion with an external god“specifically the Formless Mother”,that gives power to cursed blood.”Mohg intended to use his cursed blood”become [Miquella’s] consort” and “elevation [him] to full divinity.”When Mohg”stood before her, underground, her cursed blood erupted into fire”, which explains the powerful blood flame abilities he implements. Oppressed creatures turn to the Formless Mother in despair. Mohg was “kept underground, without anyone’s knowledge, trapped for all eternity,”while the Bloodfiends”lost everything in the big fires” and “suffered so much torment“that’s all”the mother of truth was her savior.”

What we still don’t know about Bloodfiends

SOTE provides more questions than answers about Bloodfiends and Mohg

Many questions remain about the origin of the Bloodfiends and what role they play in the larger story. Similarities to Mohg aside, the creatures tend to patrol areas aimlessly, as if they have forgotten their purpose. They clearly worship the mother of truth and practice the blood benefit ritual, often at the cost of their own limbs or lives, which implies they likely receive similar benefits through cursed blood as Mohg (although in a lesser capacity, as they are not demigods). The Bloodfiends also seem distant cousins ​​to the Omen enemies born from the curse of the Middle Lands.

But what exactly happened to their clan before these creatures became Bloodfiends, what”big fires“to which the Inheritance of Outer God refers (if it is indeed related to the Formless Mother), and it is certain that the”subjugated tribe“and the Tormented Clan are the same thing? Is it possible that the Bloodfiends and the Omen-born are linked in some way through their cursed blood? “Maybe even demons admire the beauty of blood“, suggests a complexity to the creaturesand there is some form of hierarchy in their ranks, indicated by the Bloodfiend Hexers. Bloodfiends evidently gain strength through blood offerings to the Formless Mother, and “they will even shed their own blood“as a tribute.

How Bloodfiends Connects to Elden Ring’s Greater Lore

Clues from Mohg and Miquella’s Cocoon show: Bloodfiends is more than meets the eye

The Bloodfiends share so much in common with Mohg that theories suggest there may be a more significant connection – possibly related to Miquella’s cocoon, which houses Miquella’s desiccated body in Elden Ring. The same cursed blood that powers the Bloodfiends was needed for Mohg to awaken his consort, Miquella, and “announce the dawn of“the Mohgwyn Dynasty, as seen in Exultation of the Lord of Blood

talisman:

“Give your blood offerings to your Lord. Drench my consort’s chambers. Quench the thirst of your cocoon. Your awakening will herald the dawn of our dynasty.”

And while the Bloodboon ritual may be the Tarnished’s key to opening the way to the Land of Shadows, it seems the Bloodfiends’ bond with the mother of truth is even greater than Mohg’s – at least based on how much control these enemies exhibit over their Bloodboon spells. Some fan theories (like that of YouTuber square table games seen above) suggest that the Bloodfiends are actually fallen Hornsent, or that they were a sect of the demi-human tribes. Overall, there is no single interpretation of the above details that can fully explain the origin of the Bloodfiends, or exactly what happened to the tribe they belonged to before the events of Elden Ring: Shadow of Erdtree.

Source: Square table games/YouTube