why are tarnished so short?

[BurntFish]

i don't know all that much about the lore, but i'm wondering why are the tarnished so small? it seems like all but a few characters are taller than us.

[potato]

they're on gluten free diet

[Alby]

it's not about the size of your tarnished, it's how you use it

[SnakeshyperTTV/Kick]

Food shortage more than likely.

[Dollmaker]

Thats just the usual Fromsoft design for whatever reason, every game has the protagonist be considerably shorter than other characters.

Even Wolf from Sekiro.

[BurntFish]

Originally posted by Alby:

it's not about the size of your tarnished, it's how you use it

that's actually true ingame

[Lil Grandpa]

Average size in relation to the game is about 5'5 or 5'6. I wish I never heard that.

[igkmts]

short? it's pretty average. its even more than average

[Greywander]

Originally posted by Dollmaker:

Thats just the usual Fromsoft design for whatever reason, every game has the protagonist be considerably shorter than other characters.

Even Wolf from Sekiro.

This. Making enemies bigger than the player makes them more imposing. Elden Ring isn't quite as grim as Dark Souls, but it was one more thing in the design of Dark Souls to make the world feel bleak and inhospitable.

Taller characters are also often more powerful, for some reason.

[Sparhawk 59]

Based on asian peoples height they are generally shorter than Caucasians lol

[Sabaithal]

Be thankful. Larger enemies are easier to read in combat.

Take Tiche for example (who is the same size as all BKAs), she's twice as tall as you while standing, but you probably don't notice this when actually fighting one of them.

The problem comes when an enemy is both large, and very tall. The result is you either have to look at the enemy, or look at where you are going, because you cannot do both. A few enemies in this game fit this unfortunately (ancient dragons).

[ressenmacher]

My understanding is that it fits better with the camera. Especially when enemies get right up on you having them be taller allows you to see attack animations over your own character model, and that them being large in general means it's easier to differentiate animations compared to when they're player-sized.

[Flucke]

As far as I can interpret the lore, people have degenerated and shrunk over the millennia as they gradually gave up their souls and powers to the Eldentree. But that's just my guess since I don't read any lore except for the in-game item descriptions. Speculation is a big part of the fun of the game for me.

Description of the Crucible Knot Talisman:
Said to have grown on the human body long ago. [...] Born partially of devolution [...]

Wikipedia about devolution:
Devolution is the notion that species can revert to supposedly more primitive forms over time.

[Sabaithal]

Originally posted by Flucke:

Devolution is the notion that species can revert to supposedly more primitive forms over time.

Proof: US politics. Or Canadian. Or UK, or French, in fact modern politics in general.

[Swimfan]

Originally posted by the cactus man:

i don't know all that much about the lore, but i'm wondering why are the tarnished so small? it seems like all but a few characters are taller than us.

It's a typical japanese thing. Just look at other japanese media (manga/anime a.s.o.): Size is often used to depict a character's power.
Best example would be something like OnePiece: Admirals in that series are supposed to be normal humans but are basically towering giants.
From is rather "tame" in that regard ... most of the time ;-P

Other examples: Octopath was a recent example in which enemy sprites are like towering monsters in-battle compared to your own party.

[BurntFish]

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Originally posted by the cactus man:

i don't know all that much about the lore, but i'm wondering why are the tarnished so small? it seems like all but a few characters are taller than us.

It's a typical japanese thing. Just look at other japanese media (manga/anime a.s.o.): Size is often used to depict a character's power.
Best example would be something like OnePiece: Admirals in that series are supposed to be normal humans but are basically towering giants.
From is rather "tame" in that regard ... most of the time ;-P

Other examples: Octopath was a recent example in which enemy sprites are like towering monsters in-battle compared to your own party.

that's actually very interesting, i never realized that