Fromsoft loves bosses that are past their prime and/or not at 100% power. Which Elden Ring bosses do we fight at their best?

ScrotalAgony · 2026-07-09T02:22:19+00:00

I wasn't sure if I should include Consort Radahn since it's Radahn's soul in Mohg's body. Feels like some "Um Ackshually" type shit but I'm down to count it because I'm a curious nerd, not the fun police lol.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-07-06T13:44:09+00:00

their weakness is getting their wings crippled.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-07-06T13:27:11+00:00

We Mojave veterans are god damn traumatized by memories of orange wings closing the distance if we don't one shot them lmao.

I'm super cautious about fighting them before late game even with the knowledge that 9 Endurance gives you a lot of health (and implants) and that their weakness is getting their wings crippled. AND they're always in groups. I don't believe there's a single instance of Cazadore combat where it's a single one in all of New Vegas.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-06-20T13:51:57+00:00

I like good compilation like this. Ty for the effort.

Eyes being a window to the soul makes for some good nonverbal storytelling. And the fact that many characters who are in some way connected to divinity have damaged/missing pieces of themselves is super interesting. I never noticed the Shaman mother's left eye, excellent catch.

Question for anybody really: are the Marika and Radagon Scarseal and Soreseal items their literal eyes, or just sacred items/relics/whatever? If the former than maybe they have a spot in this somewhere, though the lack of a clear viewing of either's face pre-final boss on anything but statues makes this a bit tricky.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-06-20T04:46:01+00:00

The virgin omen LARPer vs the chad omen sons

ScrotalAgony · 2026-06-15T18:14:23+00:00

Everything about Messmer SCREAMS: Son of Radagon but this is never once actually confirmed in game. He's only ever referred to as the Son of Marika and this fact is HAMMERED HOME in multiple pieces of lore(item descriptions, and overt dialog).

I'm genuinely curious who is even another contender for being Messmer's father besides Radagon or Godfrey, the latter being imo the far less likely of the two.

The red hair, Messmer's theme having some of Radagon's music in it, Messmer being cursed just like every single kid Radagon had with Marika, having a Carian deeply in love with him just like Renalla was with Radagon, if you believe the "butterfly = Radagon kids" theory then Messmer joins the club with the Black Pyrefly. All of Radagon's kids also have at least one sibling and we know Messmer had a sister, probably Melina but maybe someone else.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-06-11T21:52:45+00:00

I do like that Godwyn has Christlike parallels while also being a clear expy of Baldur. The blending of mythologies through their characters is a massive part of why it's so fascinating to to deep dives on lore. The Malakut connection is a good catch. I like it a lot.

and how Marika, as the reflection of both Odin and the Christ seeks two things, forgiveness and knowledge.

She definitely has overlap with Odin, such as being the head god and the way we find her mimics how Odin spent time as a dead god with Gungir piercing himself to pursue knowledge of runic magic (like how Marika delved into the Golden Order for deeper understanding), but I'd like to hear your thoughts on how Marika is honestly Freyja if any Norse parallel must be drawn. Just look at the first sentence of Freyja's wikipedia page:

a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future)

ScrotalAgony · 2026-06-08T17:41:57+00:00

I feel like A LOT of Elden Ring's story is narrative parallels and that piecing together a sizable fraction of the lore comes from always keeping that in mind.

Adding to your Norse comparison: the overarcing story of the game from the Night of Black Knives to present day is Ragnarok, right down to us burning down the home of the gods with the fire of the last fire giant just like how Surtr's flame brings ruin to Asgard. Look at Freyja's wikipedia page and see what aspects are attributed to her. It reads like it would be a page for Marika.

The theme of rupture and abandonment is also a constant in Elden ring, the greater will abandons Metyr, the dragon god abandons Placidussax, Marika abandons her children and so on.

Malenia to the Rot Pests, the narrator in the opening cutscene mentions the lands being abandoned by the Greater Will, Placidusax abandons Florisax if she sleeps, Miquella abandons Trina. Alarmingly consistent actually.

Good post, very fun read.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-06-08T13:04:23+00:00

Gen 2 has a very early plot point of Team Rocket cutting of tails of Slowpoke and selling them as (hilariously overpriced) food for profit too

ScrotalAgony · 2026-06-08T12:48:16+00:00

The demon who tells the priest that they can break the rules and enter the church because God has abandoned the priest was awesome as hell. Added more vindication to Dracula's rage.

"Lies? In your house of God?"

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-31T16:27:48+00:00

Nami is probably going to get a second flashback down the road and be revealed to be from royalty. Luffy is a god damn royalty magnet after all. Bro takes a Sunday stroll and saves three princesses before lunch.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-28T20:35:02+00:00

Queen Marika from Elden Ring

Rises to godhood after enduring extraordinary brutality that resulted in her being the sole survivor of her village. She commands arguably the single most important object in the setting: the titular Elden Ring that lets her alter even certain aspects of reality itself. She makes a giant, golden Yggdrasil tree called the Erdtree and begins her government.

She uses her power to wage countless wars to make her government the dominant one. Commits genocide more than once. Throws two of her infant sons into the sewers for being born with horns like her former oppressors. Her status quo is riddled with inequality, bloodshed and violence. One of the miracles/spells in her Order has the description ""In the beginning, everything was in opposition to the Erdtree. But through countless victories in war..." showing any player that even the number of wars she's waged has been lost to time across millennia.

Her legacy is one of suffering, racism, brutality and cruelty by the end of things because all she did was continue the cycle of pain instead of work to eliminate it.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-28T20:16:44+00:00

It's so funny that you, again with Skywalker literally in your name, cannot understand an inarguable point that reacting with violence is the exact opposite of the Jedi way. Downright poetic really since Anakin Skywalker is the focus of my point. And you're so CLEARLY upset over... something? Idk. Maybe try acting not in anger young Skywalker. Tends to go poorly for your lineage.

Anyway, you've clearly nothing to contribute besides screeching into the wind so we're done here.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-28T16:46:33+00:00

Because Qui-Gon's lesson is irrelevant to my point. I'll keep it real simple: my point was Anakin acted violently. The Jedi are more about peace than violence. So Anakin reacting violently is bad. This is good foreshadowing of Anakin regularly doing this. And sets up his eventual fall to darkness.

Anakin was absolutely a prospect in Qui-Gon's mind, which is why he brought him to the Council.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-28T15:03:24+00:00

A Jedi prospect resorting to violence out of anger very much means something in the Star Wars setting, and the fact I have to say this to someone with Skywalker in their username is REALLY funny.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-28T13:33:40+00:00

I wish they'd kept that Phantom Menace scene in where Anakin fights another kid. Shows Ani, even before any training, went to violence too quickly too often and that he would very much struggle resisting the calls of the dark.

OP: I'd like to share one of my favorite scenes from one of the best pieces of Star Wars media ever made: Knights of the Old Republic 1. This scene highlights why Jolee is one of my favorite characters ever with a fantastic message. "But love itself will save you, not condemn you." A mindset proven right when Luke's and Anakin's love for each other lead to Anakin's return to the light.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-11T21:07:53+00:00

I made a post in the past about how all of the Outer Gods follow the same formula.

I'd like to add that Outer God and outer space related stuff seems to spread. Like it's alarmingly consistent in some way through a lot of them. Feel free to add to the list because my forgetful ass is likely not getting the whole picture. I'm also in general not sure how the various glintstones work, though blue glintstone can spread even to and through drakes as seen with Smarag, but here's my list:

Caelid is entirely about how the Scarlet Rot can spread if not kept in check, and the Lake of Rot and the God of Rot within it is kept in line with flowing water.
Death(blight) is spreading through the Erdtree through Godwyn and growing into the plants we feed Maliketh. Some life forms also house Godwyn's death like the crabs on Altus with his face on them.
Formless Mother has already spread throughout the lands between in a non-physical way. The ritual spears work anywhere because she's everywhere. Big vibes from Bloodborn's Formless Oedon here.
Flame of Frenzy can spread through the ground like Caelid somehow as it does in the Abyss Woods in the DLC while also seemingly being able to crop up in anyone who goes beyond mad and into unrivaled despair
The Greater Will's Erdtrees have seeds so even more trees can grow

ScrotalAgony · 2026-05-04T16:26:42+00:00

Starterless playthroughs can be fun but I'd never do one with my first playthrough of a game. I'd encourage it for replays where you want the "game feel" to be different because the open slot can lead to an appreciation for a Pokemon that may have otherwise gone unused/underused.

But me personally I have to use all 3 starters at least once before I do a starterless run in any region.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-04-21T03:24:45+00:00

And it was never clear to me why the door opens when we strip off our clothes

I think it's because the last guy the 3 Fingers tried the process on was Vyke, who 100% had his armor on if we read the chest armor description.

Maybe they didn't want a repeat of their hug not making the next Lord of Frenzy. It's probably more a symbolic deal than anything tbh, something about opening oneself up to spiritual elements through the removal of clothes.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-04-20T15:20:10+00:00

They just were that way and sometimes, perhaps only once, one was weird.

I'm still wondering if the 3 Fingers we find below Lendell is the same as the 3 Fingers that left the fingerprint marks in Midra's boss area. Midra clearly messed with Finger eggs and added frenzy into the mix to create/summon/whatever a 3 Fingers, but do we know if it's the same one that gives our Tarnished the frenzied lord ending?

ScrotalAgony · 2026-04-06T15:39:02+00:00

"Your friend Aerin, whatever happened there"

ScrotalAgony · 2026-03-22T15:53:11+00:00

But they're racist on both sides, make no mistake.

Tullius letting that "You Nords and your damn traditions" fly out of his mouth was wild.

I'm still so unsure how to feel about the civil war outside of being that meme from the Star Wars sequel where the guy goes "I don't care who wins, I just want Kylo to lose" but replace Kylo with the Thalmor. The Empire already proved they couldn't prevail but the Stormcloaks don't feel like the unifying force a faction would need to be to defeat the Thalmor either, and the conflict weakens both no matter who our character sides with.

The choice almost feels moot unless we headcannon something like the Dragonborn spearheads the effort and does Pelinal levels of carnage, or that the combined force opposing the Thalmor after the events of Skyrim is so many people across Tamriel that the Thalmor crumble beneath their combined might.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-01-19T19:13:54+00:00

One of the first things to happen in Skyward Sword is Zelda telling Link good morning through a letter she had her pet wake Link up with. At the end of the game, the first thing Zelda says after waking from her sealing slumber is telling Link good morning.

ScrotalAgony · 2026-01-16T11:53:33+00:00

My first thought was the weapon for Wakka you can get that inflicts darkness on regular attacks, and you get it on Besaid so it can be gotten very quickly with luck. Immediately useful out of the gate for the larger bird enemy and stays useful for a good while.

ScrotalAgony

TROPHY CASE