Wait why is Tarnished considered a hero exactly?

[Nemerlight]

You invade castles, kill everyone and take their stuff. What part of that is heroic to you? What you bring freedom to these lands? Freedom from what?

[hemorrhage911]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Sabaithal:

Fog seems to symbolize "the unknown" pretty much universally in FROM souls games come to think of it. Demon's souls it has a specific meaning relating to the demons themselves, but its still in effect an information blackout. In Dark Souls it essentially is the equivalent of "uncharted lands" same as Elden Ring.

In this case, I just think it's literal. Look at the base game map - the lands between is surrounded by fog. This also gives explanation why there are so many downed boats and ships near the shore. Fog and other obstacles indicated on the map making traversal to the lands between a daunting task.

[SeekerHammerdin]

The thing about the souls games is that they tend to give you a minimal amount of exposition, you get thrown into the world and it's up to the player to explore and figure things out if they want. There's lore there for people that want to learn why the world is so messed up and who some people and cultures are, but things are still going to get left for interpretation. It's by design like that.

Looking at what the intro tells you (I cut out some lines to keep it shorter).

The great Elden Ring was shattered.

In our home, across the fog, the Lands Between.

Now, Queen Marika the Eternal is nowhere to be found,

and in the Night of the Black Knives, Godwyn the Golden was the first to perish.

Soon, Marika's offspring, demigods all, claimed the shards of the Elden Ring.

The mad taint of their newfound strength triggered the Shattering.

A war from which no lord arose.

A war leading to abandonment by the Greater Will.

Arise now, ye Tarnished.

Ye dead, who yet live.

The call of long-lost grace speaks to us all.

Cross the fog, to the Lands Between.

To stand before the Elden Ring.

And become the Elden Lord.


So, to summarize while ignoring lore outside of the intro, the main leader of the kingdom is missing, the other demigods are warring against each other. The world is in chaos, God has abandoned the land and nobody has taken the mantle of lord yet to fill the power vacuum. It's essentially a land without a ruler, just a bunch of warring tribes.

Now, the people that were banished from the land are coming back (including you) and they're going to be trying to become the new rulers and bring order to it again.

[Kung Fu RUSSEL]

There is no Hero. My favorite ending is the Lord of Chaos, you think that's a hero?

Game is way to griddy and too morally ambiguous to be a simple hero story.

Also the entire land is already enslaved by the Finger Mother's Madness, who has lied about being in contact with the Greater Will since possibly Placidusax's reign and before the Erdtree.

I don't understand how people can be so black and white about the game's subject matter. Also you can straight up be a "good guy" if you side with Goldmask or Ranni... It's not like that route doesn't exist.

[Bandit]

Pff my character is like chell from portal 2. Mute, does what everyone tells her to do so extremely naive, stubborn as hell and brick headed, does one thing and one thing only smashing her head agains the wall till it falls

[Banana King]

protagonist != hero

[Faust Wither]

there no one saying you are hero, you just a tarnished smouldering with thy meagre flame.

Also you been abducted and forced revived.