Elden Ring’s Outer Gods Explained

Finishing Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s latest (and, many would argue, greatest) foray into their Soulsborne series, may leave you with more questions than answers regarding its story, history, and world.

While cutscenes, dialogue, and item descriptions may grant you insight into character backgrounds and motivations, as well as quite what your role in the story was, it is easy to miss the real players pulling the strings behind the scenes. So, just who are these mysterious puppet masters, these formless, incomprehensible, eldritch entities known as the Outer Gods? 

Whilst playing through Elden Ring, you will undoubtedly hear mention of the Greater Will, the Frenzied Flame, and perhaps even the God of Rot. Various NPCs hold these names with great reverence and awe, as though they are forces to worship and obey, while others fear them, cow before then, and even despise them, seeking to scrub their influence from the Lands Between. But while you may have heard their names, and even met some of their followers, you probably know very little else about them. That is because, despite working with legendary fantasy author George RR Martin – whose expertise helped flesh out and characterize the main players in Elden Ring’s story – there is very little information in game pertaining to what exactly the Outer Gods are, while what is there is purposely vague and obscure, giving you just enough to fill in the blanks yourself if you know where to look.

What is known, is that the Outer Gods are responsible for influencing many, if not all, the events that occur both during and before Elden Ring’s main story. What is not known, is what exactly these formless beings are, how powerful they are, or even how many there are.

The Greater Will

This is likely the first Outer God players will come across during the course of their playthrough, and the one which we know the most about. Although it is never outright stated as being an Outer God, The Greater Will’s sheer force of influence over the denizens of the Lands Between, and the dominion it holds over the laws of reality itself, proves that it is a god, most likely, given its formless nature, an Outer God.

The Golden Order, the laws of Elden Ring’s world that govern life, death; the very physics of the world, was created by the Goddess Marika to directly serve the Greater Will and spread its influence across the land. Above all else, this Outer God seeks to maintain order and wishes to keep the world balanced through the proper cycle of death and rebirth. Those that die are to have their life-essence harvested through the roots of the Erdtree in order to be recycled, however, when the Golden Order was shattered and the Demi-Gods began to fall, death itself became corrupted, and the roots began to curse victims as Those Who Live in Death.

During the course of the game, the Greater Will seeks to regain order by manipulating you, the Tarnished, into becoming the Elden Lord, guiding you to sit the throne beneath the Erdtree and restore the Golden Order. It does this through the use of its conduit, the Two Fingers, which is able to commune with the Outer God itself, and the Finger Readers, the hunched and decrepit NPCs who can interpret the motions of the Two Fingers and pass on the Greater Will’s instructions.

But many oppose the Greater Will’s desire for order and seek to turn the Tarnished towards the goals of the other Outer Gods.

The Frenzied Flame   

The antithesis of the Greater Will, the Frenzied Flame seeks nothing but chaos. This Outer God believes that life is suffering and those that live surely wish to end that suffering, at any cost. And so, its goal is to burn the world to ash, to end all life and return everything to what is referred to as the “One Great”, kind of like a pre-Big Bang amalgamation of all matter.

The Tarnished will learn about the Frenzied Flame from a madman named Shabriri, who will urge the player to turn away from the path set before them by the Greater Will and embrace chaos by becoming the Lord of Frenzied Flame.

As with all the Outer Gods, the Frenzied Flame itself has no physical form but interacts with the world through followers and conduits. The Frenzied Flame’s conduit is an enigmatic entity known as the Three Fingers, a great, monstrous three-fingered hand that dwells far below the earth and appears to be a direct parallel to the Greater Will’s Two Fingers conduit.

In order to become the Lord and burn the world to ash, the Tarnished must descend deep beneath Leyndell, the Royal Capital, beneath the sewers, to a stone vault, sealed away by those above and littered with the corpses of nomadic merchants. It is here, beyond a door of molten rock, that one can seek audience with the Three Fingers, become imbued with the gift of the Flame of Frenzy, and usher in chaos.

The Greater Will and the Frenzied Flame are two major players pulling the strings behind Elden Ring’s story. They exhibit the most influence over the Lands Between and thus more is known about them. The other Outer Gods, while still manoeuvring their own pieces into place and working their will on the world unseen, have only one or two vassals under their command and are only mentioned in passing. 

The Formless Mother

Little is known about the Formless Mother, other than she also goes by the title “Mother of Truth” and that she craves blood and wounds. It is unclear what she seeks, or what the Lands Between might become should her influence spread. Mohg, the Lord of Blood, demi-god and optional boss, is her primary adherent, and when he stood before her (apparently deep below the earth) his cursed blood burst into flame. Perhaps it was her influence that drove Mohg to kidnap his dormant half-brother Miquella with the intention of raising him up to godhood and ruling at his side.

All blood magic seems to draw its power from her, and because of this, the Formless Mother may go by another name, The Blood Star. Or, perhaps, the Blood Star is yet another Outer God, or a lesser source of power, one about which we know even less.

The God of Scarlet Rot

Sealed away deep below the Lake of Rot, this Outer God still holds some influence over the Lands Between. Legend has it (as does the item description for the Blue Dancer charm), that this god’s essence was sealed away by a blind swordsman who was gifted a flowing sword by a fairy.

When Malenia (another demi-god, sister to Miquella, and the most difficult optional boss in the entire game) was born, she was cursed by this god to carry the Scarlet Rot within her. This resulted in Malenia being worshiped by some as the Goddess of Rot, but it was an honour she wanted no part of. Malenia and her brother left the Golden order to work on curing the rot, or at least keeping it at bay. This gave rise to unalloyed gold, and the Unalloyed Gold Needle, the only thing capable of resisting the influence of the Outer Gods.

Unfortunately, the Scarlet Rot could not be cured. The curse bloomed within Malenia while she fought Radahn (yet another demi-god and decidedly tricky boss to overcome), sending him mad and flooding the area of Caelid with rot, creating the Swamp of Aeonia.

As with the Formless Mother, it is not known what kind of order the God of Scarlet Rot seeks to impose upon the Lands Between, but given the fact that Scarlet Rot spreads death and madness to all those it touches, perhaps they seek an end to life as it currently stands, much like the Frenzied Flame.

The One-Eyed God

While only ever referred to in game as a “Fell God”, the One-Eyed God shares many similarities with the other known Outer Gods, namely the lack of a physical form and the power to influence the world from afar. It is possible that this god and the Frenzied Flame are one and the same, as both give power to different flame incantations, but the colour and style of the magic differs enough to put doubt to that theory. Similarly, Melina (your guide throughout your journey across the Lands Between), wishes to use the One-Eyed God’s flame to burn the Erdtree, but vehemently refuses to use that of the Frenzied Flame’s, even turning against the player should they go down that route.

The One-Eyed God was an ancient entity worshiped by the Fire Giants in the time before Queen Marika waged war against them and wiped them out. Only one Fire Giant remains at the time Elden Ring’s story takes place, subjugated and forced to guard the One-Eyed God’s flame for all eternity.

Interestingly, while seemingly having lost most of its power now, the One-Eyed God must have held substantial influence over the world, as the Fire Giants (the one living and the many frozen corpses you find) bear its visage on their torsos. This visage will even awaken during the boss battle with the final Fire Giant, seemingly taking over the creature’s body and spewing flames. Perhaps this Fire Giant was the One-Eyed God’s last vessel and killing it severed the Outer God’s link to the Lands Between.

The God of Deathbirds

This nameless Outer God is only mentioned in passing by the item description of the Twinbird Kite Shield. It reads: “The Twinbird is said to be the envoy of an Outer God”, which is not much to go on. It is also mentioned elsewhere that the Twinbird is the mother of all Deathbirds – the grotesque, skeletal bird mini-bosses, associated with True Death. Knowing this, it is possible that this Outer God seeks to end the cycle of reincarnation brought about by the Erdtree and the Golden Order and allow living things to die naturally.

The God of Dragons

The lore surrounding the secret optional boss of Crumbling Farum Azula, Dragonlord Placidusax, mentions this Outer God only briefly. According to legend, Placidusax served as Elden Lord before Queen Marika’s age of the Erdtree and worshiped this god, serving as its vessel to spread its will. Though what that will entail or whether this nameless Outer God still holds any sway over the Lands Between is entirely unknown.

The Dark Moon

Much like the Dying Star mentioned earlier, it is unknown whether the Dark Moon is truly an Outer God or whether it is something lesser, or even just a magical source of great power. What is known is that it is connected to many sorceries and that the people of Nokstella, the Eternal City, worshiped it.

The more Lovecraftian side of Elden Ring’s world appears to draw power from this unknown entity, as it seems to hold sway over the stars and the very cosmos itself. Astel and the Falling Star beasts are said to have formed from the stars and the void between them. The primeval sorcerers are known to have sought ways of becoming stars in the hopes of attaining their power. And if you side with Ranni the Witch, you use the Dark Moon to help wrest control away from the Greater Will and usher in a new Age of Stars. Quite what this means for the Lands Between going forward, however, is up for debate.

There is so much more that still remains a mystery regarding the Outer Gods and their intentions. Perhaps more is waiting to be discovered and pieced together from item descriptions and the secrets buried in the game’s code, or perhaps the rumoured DLC will shed a little more light on the darkness. Or perhaps the Outer Gods will remain a mystery forever. After all, how much can you truly know about a great unknowable cosmic horror before it ceases to be unknowable?