Elden Ring - An extremely cruel design

The Omen look like brutish monsters, but are mostly victims of circumstance, and their circumstances are only made worse by the actions of their enemy, the Omenkillers. The real monsters, it should follow, are those who would seek out the suffering and choose to make their suffering worse.
Song used: East Village - King's Field II OST

[@ZullietheWitch]

In addition to the Omenkillers using the Capra Demon animation rig, it feels like at least one Omenkiller may be a direct reference to the infamous Capra Demon in the Lower Undead Burg. Like the Capra Demon, the Omenkiller in the Albinauric Village is notably accompanied by multiple dogs, though the arena is much larger than the Capra Demon's.

[@SolidSpider195]

He has three dogs with him.

[@JoseViktor4099]

We need a BoC like boss on the DLC then

[@BIG_ASS_MOOSE]

My first playthrough blind that omenkiller legit scared me I didn't see him as I was fighting one of the rot dogs. I was like wtf! I didn't figure out the Nepheli storyline either until my like third playthrough

[@ZullietheWitch]

@@SolidSpider195 I missed the little guy hiding behind the tree.

[@Gakulon]

I get the same vibe from the Omenkiller in Volcano Manor

[@umukzusgelos4834]

00:17 the idea of an Albinauric, a Demihuman and an Omen sitting together somewhere around a campfire I find strangely endearing

[@derpywoodoo]

new d&d party just dropped

[@fortnut-bad]

An albinauric, a demihuman and an omen walk into a bar

[@cevatkokbudak6414]

​@@fortnut-badI have better on- *Remembers that he doesn't remember Deltarune's intro fully* (he=me)

[@orenges7034]

⁠@@fortnut-badThe alinauric cartwheels into the counter

[@TheSoulDivided]

Given how much the Golden Order hates and spurns animalistic features, the Omenkillers secretly having tails is pretty ironic

[@cmragg7649]

It isn’t canon it’s part of the reused character model

[@IsaacG97]

@@cmragg7649We know, we watched the video

[@cmragg7649]

@@IsaacG97 but the original comment is claiming the omen killers “secretly” have a tail, as if they are concealing it which begs the question, did they really interpret some of the details from this video at all.

[@evanbyrain]

@@cmragg7649 they probably did considering most of it is spelled out, so its probably just ironic that they have an invisible tail

[@childofcascadia]

@cmragg7649 Ok, Captain Literal, let me explain this: OP wasnt saying they actually "had secret tails" in canon, ffs. They were amused by the fact that based on who the omenkillers were in lore and the Golden Orders hatred of animal features, it was kind of funny the animation rig had a "secret" animal feature. No, it doesnt mean anything in game or in lore. No one thinks it does. Everyone seemed to get that but you.

[@gonzalodusso4323]

Is sad how some Omen told to a "friend" his nigthmares and that person used the info to make them suffer more.

[@yw9372]

Given that the omen killers were a branch for the perfumers, aka healers. They probably told them in confidence while being “treated” 😢

[@gonzalodusso4323]

@@yw9372 bro... 😢

[@LauncherSpiderMk7]

@@yw9372 Just when you think it's bad, you do a little analysis and realize it's so much worse.

[@mark0183]

Im sure that friend was morgott

[@alexcoroian3983]

@@mark0183that wouldn't make much sense morgott was isolated from the rest of the omens cause he was a royal

[@Nick-jt5nb]

One detail is that being an Omen is not exclusive to humans. The Guardian Lions have horns growing in their manes, and drop Old Fangs and Budding Horns upon death

[@alexcoroian3983]

That's an aspect of the crucible, which definitely could be tied to omens but we don't know for sure. but it definitely is the same type of phenomenon you see with the misbegotten like in castle morne. and random goats drop budding horns too sometimes

[@nightscout9979]

Those might be more like Misbegotten horns. The DLC may clarify things.

[@TheVivi13]

It's very possible that "omens" and aspects of the crucible were similar "afflictions" in the past. In the past these were actually revered but once the Golden Order got popular they became seen as disgusting.

[@on_the_inverse_5193]

I think what makes Omens more feared than misbegotten is that they have cursed blood, and the horns were cut off to excise the cursed blood. My headcanon that the cursed blood is an aspect of the crucible, and it's the way blood naturally is. This would explain why the Mother of Truth-who gives power to cursed blood-is called that.

[@cevatkokbudak6414]

Wow, who knows what other species got Omen

[@crab14]

0:55 I love this visual it shows how much omen killers terrify the omens

[@gonzalodusso4323]

ikr is so cinematic

[@janvangils5560]

it is so good!

[@barrelsynapse]

I wish wearing their set could affect omens we fight. Let them cry in fear, beg for mercy. Hear their screams

[@toastee5421]

to me, that's cinema.

[@Ssosmooth69]

I think it’s very ironic how omen are seen with the golden aura in their eyes, while the omenkillers’ eyes are not visible but completely black.

[@Rexhunterj]

Omenkillers are human though and not all humans are guided by grace, remember?

[@cevatkokbudak6414]

Lmao, makes me remember that one time when a mosque didn't let a person with tattoo on their eyes pray, the real people that have pitch black eyes are the ones that didn't let him pray (1.This is happened Türkiye 2.I don't want to start a drama 3.I don't probably fully know the whole story)

[@SeptimusNavyaHoran]

​@@cevatkokbudak6414 you don't know the full story, lol. The dude ur speaking of was a anti-islam protester that went from mosque to mosque, causing drama and shit.

[@aerosif3632]

There's just something about Omenkillers simply being labeled "Slaughter" in their AI file. Terrifying stuff

[@leonardo9259]

Fromsofwate fans when they see bad word:

[@armintor2826]

A pretty apt description for a drugged up, 8ft tall murder machine with two machetes

[@cevatkokbudak6414]

When there is millions of other mfs that is scary,violent and disgusting

[@ABRBD]

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 A WORD???!!?! 😱😱😱😱

[@Rinboz]

Technically, the omens have the highest elemeantal resist for holy damage as well. Quite fascinating.

[@ythandlename]

You would think one of the ugliest enemies in the game that look like generic demons would be weak to holy. A interesting subversion but I bet that frustrated players who already have a hard time using Holy dmg in this game.

[@blackhammer5035]

Holy resist is handed out like candy in this game, because most of the elemental resistances are given out to pad enemy stats more than represent lore.

[@DM-Oz]

That would mean alot more if not for the fact that everyone and their mothers habe high holy damage resistance

[@cevatkokbudak6414]

​@@ythandlenameTrue, mfs look like they gonna one shot by Pope Francis' gravestone (I don't know if he is alive)

[@jonbaxter2254]

Such a sad fate. Born into a world where everyone and everything, even the gods, despise them. No wonder they're so aggresive.

[@freakymoejoe2]

Not your old pal Godrik! He's an equal oppertunity employer (And also an equal oppertunity grafter)

[@user-tb4pd2zx2x]

they’re kinda like black people if you think about it

[@thenine895]

Fromsoftware is a truly ecological company Their animations and bosses are reusable and come in an equally reusable tote bag with a "zero waste" sign

[@menialbee]

"zero waste (except leftover tail animations)"

[@Blue-EyesWhitePrivilege]

Like nearly every video game sequel to ever exist, yes.

[@pillarmenn1936]

@@Blue-EyesWhitePrivilege Yeah but its often met with backlash (Call of Duty for example) From just has enough loyal fans and good reputation that only the detractors actually use it as a means to smear them.

[@thenine895]

@@Blue-EyesWhitePrivilege You took it the wrong way, I mean no disrespect to Fromsoftware or this practice in general. It's just funny.

[@raydark100]

@@pillarmenn1936 Because they know how to do it, From reuses content but also offers you a lot of new content. This omen not only shares the movements of the Aries demon, it also has several more different ones.

[@rustedbranch]

I never thought about how the Omens are born with horns. Those poor mothers, that must have hurt

[@HeavensRipper-he4sz]

Morgott's deal is that it reveals the omen curse COMES from grace. After we beat him, we take his Great Rune, and his Omen Curse along with it.

[@dumbsterdives]

the Crucible being the primordial form of the Erdtree (and celebrated in Godfrey's time) makes it pretty abundantly clear that the omen curse is an aspect of grace, and the only reason its shunned now is basically for aesthetics. "Our great perfect order made that horrid creature? Of course not!"

[@yw9372]

While an interesting thought, but isn’t that more likely it’s due to the exsanguination in his second phase which caused him to loss his cursed blood?

[@joshuakim5240]

Not only that, but being an Omen is supposed to be a sign of primordial blessing that got twisted into a sign of impurity by the Golden Order. The irony is that Omens under the pre-Erdtree world are actually the most pure entities in the Lands Between while the Golden Order is a foreign entity that took root as a mixture that by definition is as impure as can be.

[@sam.246]

​@@dumbsterdivesjust like religion in general rejects the animal unpredictable side of life. Edit: religion, that mean in the end, us. As we reject chaos and instinct, we demonize them, and they become our shadow (how are demons depicted in general? horns, fangs, wings aka animal features)

[@God-ch8lq]

then why didnt mohg bleedout in the first 5 seconds of the fight even if 90% of the blood in the fight is of the formless mother​, there's still enough to exanguinate him@@yw9372

[@crispycronchy5887]

Forsaken Depths was always my favorite dungeon, I love fighting the omen so much, their design is amazing.

[@BIG_ASS_MOOSE]

They're my build test dummies too.

[@apophisstr6719]

@@BIG_ASS_MOOSE Not gonna lie...I've become a professional omenkiller in the process because of this

[@Reac2]

Jump attack - Interrupt Jump attack - Interrupt Jump attack - Stagger Riposte Gets boring once you figure this out (true for any weapons that do the same amount of stagger damage as the great sword weapon class or more)

[@OQIF87NREU]

@@Reac2yeah this is true for a huge number of enemies/bosses though I started using dual great hammers a while back and it's hard not to after you get used to it

[@velfaern1716]

@@BIG_ASS_MOOSE yup same. If I can’t easily kill an omen with a build then I go redo it 😂

[@aldrichunfaithful3589]

my interpretation of omens and other peoples being shunned is that it has nothing to do with the greater will or the erdtree, it's simply an invention of marika's golden order (which itself is only her own interpretation of what the greater will wants). because their existence isn't easily understood or explained, they have the potential to call the golden order into question if they're accepted, as such marika refuses to let that happen and persecutes them. and my own personal theory is that this ties into marika having an obsession with her order lasting forever, hence the name eternal, which is very similar to other doomed efforts to seek immortality in some form in these games (like gwyn desperately clinging to the fire). in a vain attempt to make her perfect dream last forever she corrupted it with inequality, and sealed away the three fingers and the rune of death to prevent the end of the order, which led to her eventually realising this was wrong and breaking the ring in the hopes that someone could fix her mistakes and create the change she resisted

[@jackkendall6420]

I think you're on the right track, but the reason the omen are despised isn't that they're misunderstood or not-explained to the inhabitants of the Lands Between. Quite the contrary: as the crucible knot talisman tells us, omen (along with misbegotten) are relics of a time *before* the Erdtree, when life was more vibrant and bestial. This makes them an unpleasant reminder for the political establishment that their institutions have not, in fact, always been around, which in turn implies they won't last forever either. So you're absolutely right in the broad strokes, but the specific reason the omen/misbegotten are hated is because they symbolise the pre-Erdtree past.

[@aldrichunfaithful3589]

@@jackkendall6420 ah i wasn't aware that their origins were common knowledge to the people before the shattering, i thought that was just lore lads doing their thing. but yeah that was the least relevant part anyway the general point is the same

[@CPU9incarnate]

@@jackkendall6420 The omens have nothing to do with the crucible actually, although it's possible that some people in the game think that they do.

[@warcoder]

I have the theory that the Omen and misbegotten persecution didn't start with Marika, but with Radagon. He started the Golden Order Fundamentalism, and it is said that many things changed with his new order, like closing the coliseums. Another clue that hints towards this, it's that both Morgott and Mohg are very different from other Omens. From the way they talk, it's obvious that they received education, most probably in Leyndell, and the need of shackles to contain them might imply that they weren't babies when they got imprisoned in the sewer because, why would anyone need special magic shackles to restraint two babies, even if they are demigods? I think they were probably were still children, maybe between 5-13 years old, when Godfrey was exiled along with the other Tarnished. Soon after, Radagon took the throne and started to erase Godfrey's legacy as much as he could, starting with his ugly Omen children.

[@aldrichunfaithful3589]

@@warcoder great theory, but im not sure i agree. even though marika and radagon have the whole same person bs and they're both gods, i think there's a clear hierarchy between them since marika has always been queen whereas radagon is the consort. which is kinda backed up by him being a golden order fundamentalist, his entire life revolves around maintaining the "true" golden order, and any fundamentalist believes that marika is fully empowered to do whatever she wants and her word is law. so i find it hard to believe that radagon would do anything drastic that isn't marika's direct will, with the obvious exception being his resistance to her shattering the elden ring. but at that point in his mind she'd gone nuts and committed treason, and as a fundamentalist he wasn't capable of processing that, so he stubbornly clung onto her vision of the order even when she herself had realised it was wrong

[@skullhall5k324]

"The Omen share animations and rigging to the Capra Demons" Me - "I KNEW I had a reason to hate them outside of Lore!"

[@skulisoul]

The Omenkillers share animations and rigging*

[@YeprilesteR]

Bro the clip at 1:00 is so good, trailer worthy

[@epicpotato9]

The Golden Lineage seems the most influenced by the Omen curse, which appears to have something to do with Godfrey's days as a warlord during the Crucible Era. Perhaps Omen were first deemed impure by Radagon himself, to delegitimize the claim of Godfrey's descendents?

[@soarel325]

Someone else in these comments had the same idea, it'd make more sense than humanity inexplicably turning on the Omens in the middle of Godfrey's era like I'd assumed

[@nightscout9979]

Morgott was apparently imprisoned in the sewers when he was still a baby, so Godfrey was probably still the Elden Lord at the time. Godfrey seemingly visited the twins enough that he can recognize Morgott even as an adult and without the curse anymore, so I don't think Radagon became Elden Lord shortly after Morgott's birth.

[@EldenRingBuildsArchive]

Nothing to do with Radagon, Morgott and Mohg precede him, it’s because the omen curse is contagious, and those affected are barred from the Erdtree, aka, you don’t resurrect, and there’s no afterlife

[@TheRadioknight]

I knew i recognised the Moves from the Omen Killers from somewhere. Damn Capras

[@evanholt1752]

The one in Liurnia even has an arena filled with piece of shit dogs. It's not quite as bad as capra though, because said arena is bigger than 4 square feet.

[@spookzer16]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I have a much harder time with that Omenkiller than the Capra Demon. ​@@evanholt1752

[@carcerharlson9767]

Thanks for using Miner's Graveyard from King's Field! One of my favorite tracks out of all of From's games.

[@justinhowe3878]

whoever designed the omenkiller mask did a bangup job. thing is creepy as hell.

[@WadeBembenek]

I always enjoy it when you throw in interesting scenes like the one at 0:54. Keep up the good videos!

[@Punlecochon]

I wish we had naturally these infos playing the game. I loved searching about in dark souls for lore but it somehow felt unnatural to me in elden ring. Since the world is so big it's too easy to miss these kind of information and everything felt really disconnected. Bottom line is : thanks Zullie !

[@portalmanHUN]

Everything Zullie says is from the game itself.

[@skilletborne]

@@portalmanHUN Most of what Zullie says - they still speculate a heck of a lot and sometimes people take that as fact. I've noticed on a couple of occasions something has made it into the script that implies something is canon that absolutely isn't.

[@CybersteelEx]

the ds style of narrative feels abit rough in an open world since its so big. meeting npcs in a closed, system looping on itself incentivise going back to old places. In open world theyre hard to find without a guide. Ironically the game with the most straightforward narrative is the one inspired by lovecraft.

[@evanseifert8858]

@@portalmanHUN Sweeping generalizations can be dangerous.

[@Rujewitblood]

There should be some kind of a library area or something like that, they used to do it in pokemon games. You could walk up to a bookshelf and read some books that would give you lore, or basically the same thing, but it would be some smartass NPC that you could ask about a bunch of things. They are trying too hard with making things convoluted and hidden, it doesn't add anything to the experience imo

[@L0rdLexan01]

The Omen are children of the Primordial Crucible, the font of life that gave birth to the original Great Tree. Animalistic traits were once seen as noble and honorable things (see: Crucible Knot talisman and the entire design of the Crucible Knights), but with the Golden Order supplanting the Great Tree, that way of seeing them has been replaced with hatred. Nevertheless, the Omen ARE blessed by the Crucible. Even if the Golden Order would deny them their heritage, they are inherently a blessed group of individuals, so it's no surprise they seem to have remnants of Grace in their eyes.

[@CPU9incarnate]

Unlike the misbegotten and the crucible knights, the omens have nothing to do with the crucible. They have an exogenous curse that physically and mentally tortures them, nothing about being an omen is good for them, even if the golden order is wrong about omens themselves being spiritually or morally unfit for life or freedom. The origin is likely the formless mother, or some other outer god of pain and misery.

[@soarel325]

There is no evidence for a separate "Great Tree" that isn't the Erdtree.

[@mothweb8088]

@@soarel325Yep, and the only in-game quotes about the "great tree" are all mistranslations lmao

[@freakymoejoe2]

Im not sure i buy that because just look at the omen. Even if they werent hated the condition itself looks extremely painful, awkward and uncomfortable. Many of them lose eyes to the horns curving BACK into their own skull. Theres also the fact that dungeater found a way to force the curse to manifest and it involves unspeakable defilement, with seedbed curses described as the most foul things in elden ring

[@mohgceoofblood8235]

It's almost like the crucible/great tree power is resurfacing under erd tree's, maybe Marika denied them grace purely out of it, she wanted traces of crucible gone, but they couldn't be erased completely, Crucible knights were part of Golden Order but theirs (crucible)powers were gained/used, not born with

[@BlahNetworkBro]

It’s really cool how these videos highlight how fromsoft has been able to reuse things like skeletons that probably saves them so much work and it’s such a small thing most people would ever know without a video like this!

[@ShupperDupper]

omenkillers are some of my favorite designs in the game, brutal carnage born of hate.

[@AlphaOmegaInfinity]

A real “are we the baddies?” Moment

[@taylorbrecht8049]

It's a fromsoft game, of course we're the baddies :P

[@Jamhatproductions]

A rats anus?!

[@GVSM-xo9ri]

Dung Eater's armor is such a strong symbol representing these poor creatures left aside from society coming back to be the ruin of all that is golden. What a twisted revolutionay man!

[@apophisstr6719]

Giga Chad Dung Eater goat

[@Gakulon]

I'm sure the Omen love having this guy go around idolizing their pain and suffering while having absolutely no idea what it's actually like.

[@Doomroar]

But the Dung Eater still doesn't fixes the problem with those that live in death, and the Albinaurics, and the giants, and the merchants, and... You know what? May Chaos Take the World!

[@metalsludge8205]

​@@Gakulon omens be like, "We're a curse, NOT a costume"

[@maxthepaladin2147]

​@@metalsludge8205"My curse is not your fucking prom dress!"

[@yphoenix5957]

Thats awesome, I love the Omenkillers and KapraDemon they're such great lore dressing pieces. Its actually so cool those two who hunt "innocents" share the same animation rig.

[@hi-i-am-atan]

honestly, the fact that the tail _does_ get acknowledged in some of the new animations makes think they _did_ once have a tail - or at least, there was a stage between the capra demon and the omenkiller that retained the tail, either as an earlier part of elden ring's design, or an enemy cut from an intermittent game alternatively, perhaps there was the idea for a branch of omenkillers, or a specific unique one, that have grown a misbegotten's tail. it would fit a "he who fights monsters" spin and / or further reinforce the golden order's hypocrisy, and would make the reuse of the capra demon's assets even more economical

[@TheHandofDestiny]

It was probably easier to just move the tail a bit rather than getting rid of the whole thing

[@hi-i-am-atan]

@@TheHandofDestiny they did get rid of the whole thing

[@yuagiin]

@@TheHandofDestiny Tail's invisible, it's not going to interfere with any of the animations visually whether they move the bone or not, unless there's a hidden deformation on the ass

[@Rujewitblood]

If they reused old animations then it makes sense to leave the tail alone, but if they use the same rig to make new animations, then they might need to move it out of the way so it doesn't interfere with what they're doing, its really not that deep lol

[@aJAGfan]

I love Omen’s design!

[@verisimilitone]

Alongside the HEAVY parasitic themes in the whole game, I like that Elden Ring's seems to present the idea of Grace being some kind of existential antibody for allegorical analogues of sickness and pandemic, particularly the kinds that gripped our world after people began mass migrations and colonization, ie: - The Crucible's seemingly herpes-like, inheritable debilitations. Omens noticeably look like rabbits do when infected with specific strains of herpes, akin to teratoma. - Godwyn is like a syphilitic teratoma, his very being springing up like lesions across all forms of life. Made even more compelling given his attendant Deathbed Companion literally sleeps with his corpse (and tbh, the visual elements of his presence are also akin to bedsores...) - The hemorrhagic fever that is Scarlet Rot. If you know the theories of these types of fevers points of origin, we could be getting a helluva of a depraved story from whoever that Dancer in Blue was that trained Malenia. - Polio for the Albinaurics. - The Seedbed Curse is Hepatitis. Some other notes I'd posit are that its fitting that the aristocracies of The Lands Between would rather create veils of secrecy and glamers to misdirect its people from the sicknesses taking hold across the land, or create sick gaols/camps/settlements to keep it quarantined. I think there's always more to talk about, also, with regards to hygiene and religion, and how they are inextricably linked, but that's not for youtube comments. Thanks for all the videos Zullie!

[@TanitAkavirius]

I didn't know about polio and rabbit herpes. With the whole themes of parasites and diseases I wouldn't be surprised it it was at least partially an inspiration.

[@impcit5717]

Never thought of the disease implications. I wonder what glintstone infection represents?

[@TheRealNekora]

​@@impcit5717maybe FOP? (Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva) genetic disorder that causes soft tisues to turn into bone. making movment restricted or imposible by "bridges" of bone forming over joints n such

[@Umbra_Ursus]

I love how you can draw actual, reasonable comparisons to all that, and then the game also has full-on aliens just landing as scorpion-bulls, and transitioning into space-ball centipedes... Really fitting, actually. The aliens from the stars have seemingly nothing to do with what's going on in the rest of the story.

[@toastanium1143]

​@@Umbra_UrsusMaybe the aliens are analogous to foreign contaminants? Germs and viruses that prelude an infection, since a lot of the other afflictions originate from outer gods, which are all aliens themselves

[@quillquickcard8824]

My headcanon is that the Dung Eater was an Omenkiller, or going to be, and followed Rollo’s example, but whatever he took caused irreparable damage and psychosis

[@johnnycracker640]

pretty neat

[@ythandlename]

Now it's my headcanon now since I don't even know where to start if we were going to discuss who Dung Eater was, why or how he became the villain he is today. It makes sense that his connection to Omen probably stems from the fact that he was tied to them indirectly. We have no evidence of this but I always thought he was a inverse Solaire, a normal guy who went on a mad quest with only his arms and faith except his mission is to spread his evil rather than Solaire who spreads the good of what he worships.

[@KelltheTitan]

Mine is that Dung Eater is the reason there are Omens. I don't think we ever get an explanation for what Dung Eater's curse does, but we know that the corpses he defiles are forever cursed even in death, and he idolizes Omens and is tied to them in some way. Occam's Razor states that Omens were Dung Eater's victims before their defiled souls returned to the Erdtree and were reincarnated into what they are now, hence why the curse seems random in who gets born with it.

[@johnnycracker640]

@@KelltheTitan i mean, We do know what the curse does,(aswell as how he does it) and that it Can be cured. We see it with morgott. After we beat him. He lays there with his horns Absent; either a reward for his unwavering loyalty to the golden order or we just beat it out of him lol. As for the dung eater, he’s probably a by-product of the curse or something else entirely. In ancient times, the birth of an omen was seen as a blessing(before the golden order rolled in I think.) Afterwards, the omen were seen as cursed; born outside the grace of the erdtree and its influence, deapite the rays of gold seen in their eyes which suggest otherwise. If the dung eater was around back then I feel like that would atleast have been hinted at in one way or another. His armor describes him as having the heart of an omen without the body to match. This could mean he very well Is an omen, albeit with an unaffected body, or something else entirely. After he attacks you and, whether you beat him or not, he’s confused at first as to how you’re able to Resist the curse, then Concluding that you’re "Like him" meaning the player character is, indeed, an omen without a body to match(or something worse) We even get to *"DEFILE"* him at the end of his quest. *yuck* I uhhhh just felt like nerdsplaining I’m sorry

[@wolfsmaul-ger8318]

i never played elden ring but its still so cool to learn about these little snippets of lore

[@bingusmingus9599]

it's crazy how much world building there is that I completely missed just playing through

[@wealthybone2990]

Omen have it the worst I feel had for them even though they could look cool. Honestly the Omen are interesting because you don't seem them alot and usually they're quite strong for some reason.

[@liammcconnell9322]

They have a primordial blessing, it’s just viewed as a curse by the erdtree. At least explains why they’re so strong

[@cjthebeesknees]

Imagine poachers killing Rhinos with ivory tipped bullets, that’s how the Omen feel.

[@AQ_77]

Achtully..rhino horns are composed of keratin, you’re probably thinking of elephants🤓

[@eldenringpvpenthusiast1710]

It's crazy to think they'd have nightmares of anything but Caelid, then again the dlc trailer has some freaky looking monsters, I never could have imagined a giant porcupine hippo with an eerily human face before, the epic music playing while hungry hippo goes nuts is outrageous.

[@chillax319]

Knowing the lore behind omenkillers make killing them quite satisfying.

[@Vesterpester]

A vestigial tail. I think I have one of those.

[@mortalexo103]

Fine. I'm subbing. These videos are just great.

[@AuntBibby]

i feel bad for the omens 😓🥺

[@collectorguy3919]

Excising emotions with a physick -- relatable.

[@mirrorblade6268]

The kingsfield bmg just stokes my desire for a new entry in the series at this point.

[@crjnn3232]

The King's Field OST gave it a nice touch

[@TheSaladin777]

Music for this video is sooooo good

[@TheTrueFool]

Developers reusing assets is a vestigial tail as old as time.

[@apophisstr6719]

But I'm actually quite surprised how different these reused enemies felt so different to fight in Elden Ring compare to the original, just a slight bit of animation change + additional new attacks completely changed the dynamics of fighting them.

[@jankbunky4279]

Except asset reuse isn't vestigial. It's actually extremely practical and efficient in very many cases.

[@jankbunky4279]

​@@apophisstr6719for the most part, absolutely. For example, I'd say the basilisks feel essentially identical, right? The imps are also *very* similar to the thralls. But then look at the Elden Ring big hammer fire prelate guys. Pretty dang sure they reuse stuff from Smough, but the fire attacks and addition of projectiles make the fight very different. I feel like asset reuse is best when it's used to pad out and highlight other fresh things.

[@apophisstr6719]

@@jankbunky4279 Yea the fire prelate definitely used Smough movesets (saw a comparison video), but somehow it felt so alien to fight against it's ridiculously mind-blowing lol

[@RonanJellyfish]

Maybe the developers intended the omen killers to have tails, to show the irony of them also having an aspect of the crucible

[@thosebloodybadgers8499]

Perhaps the Omenkillers were Omen themselves. Having been subjected to the same torture and groomed under the Golden Order, they believed themselves "purified" and wanted to subject others of their kind to the same kind of treatment, whether out of twisted sense of fairness, or a belief in what was done to them being correct, maybe out of pure pragmatism, as that could be one of the only ways in which the Omen could feel included within the hierarchy of the Golden Order. Sorta how the Giants in Dark Souls had a use in the hierarchy of the Gods of Anor Lando, despite being marginalized all the same.

[@riccardocirielli]

No, they just wanted to save money

[@guckie]

​@@thosebloodybadgers8499interesting idea but I think the omenkillers have a smaller human sized model, unlike the pretty heavyset body shape of most omens

[@thosebloodybadgers8499]

@@guckie Eh, true. At the same time, Morgott and Mohg are much larger than other omens and are built quite different too. There's a level of artistic abstraction to such designs, I feel. Then again, could very well be that part of the Omen condition includes being built dummy thicc

[@chuckled125]

I'm thinking that trying to remove the tail from the skeleton caused something to break, so it was less trouble to just leave it.

[@lucassoaresmachado5112]

I feel like there's something big we still don't know about the omen. I think they are somehow a nod to the phenomenon of atavism, by which some genetic characteristics tend to appear again after generations. But it could be something more sinister. I always felt like their fate has something to do with how they are conceived. If the theory (questionable, I know) about people no longer being born by natural means in the Lands Between is true, I feel like it could be implied that the omen have something to do with natural birth. And giving birth to horned babies must be a bummer. Anyways, I hope we learn more in the DLC.

[@titaniumteddybear]

Here's a question that has been eating at my brain: first generation albinaurics disappear when you kill them just like Finger Creepers and Iron Virgins. But second generation Albinaurics leave behind a corpse, what the heck does that mean?

[@BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

I was looking through the videos and thought "Hey, I haven't watched that video. That can't be right.". After watching the video I remembered why it was right. It is legitimately hard to watch, especially due to how REAL this is. I would not be surprised if people would do this IRL and congratulate themselves for being so "mOrAl", since people do this sort of thing IRL with other stuff anyways.

[@falionna3587]

Another thing to add, the loathsome dungeater uses seedbed curses to make people into omen, and sacrifices himself to make a mending rune that make everyone into omen.

[@nightscout9979]

A curious thing about Rollo is that while he's the first Omenkiller, it's never said or implied that he was ordered to be one. Rollo is only confirmed to be a Perfumer, and we can see Perfumers like Tricia and the ones in Leyndell trying to help even the Misbegotten. As such, Rollo may have somehow concluded that he had to kill the Omens and created his physick in response, or he made the gear first and the physick removed any hesitation. Rollo certainly wasn't appreciated by Leyndell's current management, considering that the Fell Twins appointed by Morgott hold Rollo's Spirit Ashes, implying they killed him. Those twins even kill a nearby Leyndell soldier, so perhaps Morgott is trying to wipe out various people he recognizes as corrupt and abusive. Some people speculate that the Fell Twins are intentionally created copies of Morgott and Mohg when they were much younger, and if so, then the royal children killed Rollo themselves. Personally, I don't think Mohg would ever cut his horns, and he looks like they've always been intact instead of having the messy signs of horn regrowth that some Omens in the sewers do, but it's something people speculate nonetheless. Morgott aside, Leyndell might not be too keen on the Omenkillers either -- they seem highly likely to defect for scummy reasons. One Omenkiller can be found in Volcano Manor's town overseeing a burning pile of bodies, implying that he both works for Rykard's blasphemous cause that has long since lost its claims of being a lesser evil and helped massacre a ton of potential civilians. Rykard's habit of devouring his own soldiers makes it even more likely that the people burned in the pile could be his own allies rather than Golden Order elites captured at an earlier time. Volcano Manor also houses a second Omenkiller who seems to conduct tortures and executions in the room with the Albinauric Mask, the flayed skin of an Albinauric. Between this grisly deed, gruesome area, and the former guest hall that now houses tons of Albinaurics tortured with the Black Dumplings, the Omenkillers seem to be freely torturing and murdering any marginalized group in the Lands Between regardless of the Golden Order. Even the Omenkiller found within Leyndell itself is in the ashen lower area that suspiciously has Albinaurics with Black Dumplings, Fingercreepers, and two Abductor Virgins piloted by snakes uniquely loyal to Rykard. This odd assortment of enemies in the city's ruined districts implies they're a small Gelmir group that attacked Leyndell when Bernahl's Finger Maiden burned part of the Erdtree. The Omenkillers don't even have to do brutal actions for a grand cause. As this video shows and Zullie noted in the comments, the boss of the Albinauric Village is an Omenkiller, and thus does mercenary work for Gideon. The entire Albinauric Village was slaughtered just because Gideon fancied learning about the Haligtree and was too brutal, impatient, and vicious to so much as ask the Albinaurics what they had heard or simply help them. One of this Omenkiller's fellow mercenaries is also a Depraved Perfumer, further implying that he's not even remotely doing this for the Golden Order's beliefs. In total, there might be only two Omenkillers actually still loyal to the Golden Order, these being the one at the Perfumer's Ruins and the one at the Perfumer's Grotto. Rollo's experiment, whether or not the physick was unique to him, has seemingly created a lot of people who don't particularly care for any causes or morals, just massacres. Thanks for the video, Zullie! The shot of the Omenkiller looming over the sleeping Omen in the Fell Twins' boss room is an amazing visual.

[@egocide9034]

Easily one of if not my favorite enemy design in the game, both aesthetic and lore. These guys and the Crystalians (love how enigmatic they are) I like quite a bit.

[@cadoized]

they have a vestigial tail. amazing.

[@Inuzumi]

This omen killer felt so disgusted by his own work that he literally started using drugs to keep himself from thinking about it. Just think about it for a second.

[@johnnycracker640]

the omenkillers and the just the perfumers as a whole such an interesting and cool concept this isn't my bias against the misbegotten or omen talking

[@Dev2n]

Videos like this remind me how hard lore peeps carry, wouldn’t know anything about omen killers cause I don’t read

[@jaxdakid5598]

i hope you have a good day Zullie

[@DeathMatchSAS]

They probably use some joints of the tail as reference for other joints, causing them unable to remove the tail or the bone will collapse.

[@leastmachine8693]

"Everything is imprinted forever with what it once was." - Jeanette Winterson, _The Stone Gods_

[@Big_Dai]

@0:57 That's a great composition!

[@tedfallenger]

Could you investigate the landforms above Volcano Cave and where the Full-grown Fallingstar Beast spawn, north of Mt. Gelmir? On the map I can't help but think it looks like a tree stump and fallen trunk, and the texture of a lot of the rock looks quite a bit like the texture of the Erdtree's bark. Now it could just be a volcanic chimney, but I'm not so sure...

[@VileLasagna]

One interesting fact that didn't go mentioned is that Omenkillers are a sect of Perfumers which makes them an interestingly varied class of people. Fells like a missed opportunity that the omenkiller fire breath attack does not display the spark aromatic particles because that's what I think it's supposed to be

[@GKnight_]

1:47 regarding why the tail is still on the omen killers even with new animations is because it wasn't just reused animations but also re-used rigs in 3D animations rigs are basically what you see the skeleton of the animation so what they most likely did was copied the same rig but down sized it some so it would fit omen killers its common in 3D animation to re-use rigs since their pretty hard to make and when on a budget rigs will be very expensive.

[@Haru-spicy]

it seems like it's not so much about whether or not the Omens have grace, but about 'pruning' the parts of the erdtree that have ties to the Crucible

[@raunchers1889]

I just wanted to say that I discovered your channel when you started making Elden Ring content. You're the only channel that I watch that does not have any voice-overs at all. Love your work.

[@a_level_70_elite_raccoon]

Interesting! I had no idea the Omenkillers were related to the Capra Demon model.

[@AxeMan808]

Oh wow!

[@Reac2]

Surely the gold in the omens eyes is that of the raw crucible and not the erdtrees' own (though they have some vague connections)

[@woweeree3522]

A cruel Omen’s thesis

[@ColinGruver]

Welp, time to become an Omenkiller killer

[@ohmwrecker8281]

i wonder if we'll see the "spirit" that huants the omens nightmares in the DLC

[@kerianhalcyon2769]

To me, Omen appear to be a holdover from the previous era of the Erdtree before the rise of the Golden Order, especially considering that Godfrey appears to be an adherent of that older order (considering his Crucible Knights and the fact that two of his own children with Marika were Omen themselves - Morgott and Mohg specifically). It's likely that when she rewrote the Golden Order, Marika purposefully tried to remove the Omen and those like them in an attempt to shun/subjugate them from her vision. Naturally since they're pretty much rooted (pun not intended) within the Erdtree itself it's not been a successful endeavor.

[@Reac2]

I don't want to know the pain of giving birth to an omen child

[@DropKickEddy]

Have to wonder why in particular Perfumers became Omenkillers. Were they forced to? Their previous talents for healing and physician work was cast aside to focus on their warfare applications. Perhaps if they were made to abandon their old roles by the GO it would make more sense why rebel/Depraved Perfumers exist and why a small number still try to treat the Omen and Misbegotten like Tricia

[@nightscout9979]

The Depraved Perfumers seem more willing to do unethical things, as noted by most of the Perfumer's Cookbooks. A Depraved Perfumer even works alongside the Omenkiller who massacred the Village of the Albinaurics for Gideon.

[@mrmars4939]

The idea that omen had grace all along despite their centuries of subjugation is so fascinating to me

[@multiverserift]

What for Tarnished Archeologists is talking about videogame statues, is for Zullie zooming in on videogame eyes.

[@chrismsutcliffe]

If their masks are modelled after a figure from Omens' nightmares, I'm hoping we can face that figure in the DLC and maybe bring them a little bit of peace

[@thosebloodybadgers8499]

I think it's supposed to imply that the Omenkillers are what features in their nightmare, having become boogeymen through their long and bloody craft. On the other hand, it would be fun to have it be modeled after an actual nightmarish figure of sorts, disconnected from the Omenkillers. Kinda like how "The Fingers" could be interpreted as being a title only to end up being literal giant fingers. But then there's the question of how exactly would the Omenkiller know what to model their masks off if this nightmare is exclusive to Omen for whatever reason? Surely, only a bearer of the nightmare could pluck it out in such vivid detail...

[@sekira4516]

@@thosebloodybadgers8499 Previous comment mentioned that it was likely told to a Perfurmer in confidence while being treated and it was then passed onto the Omenkillers who then used the nightmare imagery against the Omen

[@portalmanHUN]

It's not one entity that torments them, they're haunted by evil spirits.

[@gormold4163]

I wonder if they had to reposition the ghost tail to keep things from getting glitchy, or if a programmer was just playing with the tail for fun.

[@Mene0]

It's like digital evolution

[@jcace13]

I'd never thought of the Omenkillers and Capra Demons being related but its so obvious now.

[@Gorlami90]

Can’t wait to see the dancing lions in the dlc and the horned rune lions/bear… Also senpou temple arts coming back baby!

[@pretentiosaurus]

the idea of a vestigial tail existing on the omenkillers, who are the embodiment of the golden order's desire to excise the traits of ancient bodies from their world, is so poignant the omenkillers are among those who could hide these traits, and were spared the brutal betrayal that they would go on to create

[@pictometryofficial]

I'm interested to see, with all the talk of sleep realms in the DLC, how the Omenkillers discovered what a creature from an Omen's nightmare looks like, in order to mimic them with their masks

[@Deadgye]

Not sure if you peruse comments for content ideas, but a video recommendation: A comparison of the highway, bridge, and building floor tiles would be neat if you're easily able to extract those from the world environment. I was trying to map the highway in mspaint and realized that some bridges have tiles sized differently than the highway, that the majority of the highway tiles bear the symbol of the Farum Azula elden ring sigil, and those tiles were laid before the ruins fell from the sky across liurnia, limgrave, and weeping.

[@devin5201]

A fun but probably unintentional tidbit, the omenkiller mask looks a lot like the Vejigante, a character from Puerto Rican festivals.

[@bretthughes1657]

Possible topic for next video: wht are the stars underground and what is the purple and pink light?

[@MasonCasey-fh6bo]

Zullie, I’ve just noticed the same kind of goes for the Erdtree Avatar and the Asylum Demon. They have similar movesets and animations, and they have the same death animation. You should check it out!

[@greenmarble638]

Its things like this that make you want to pick the bad ending in fromsoft games

[@wjr4700]

"a vestigial holdover from their predecesor." is VERY fitting considering lore. Poetic almost.

[@lilyrosalia9799]

Does make you wonder: what kind of thing can haunt the dreams of an entire category of people? What kind of monster must it be, to give nightmares to every single Omen?

[@shortsrus]

Great Omenkiller cleaver honestly looks a lot like a severed tail

[@alexandrelarosa2604]

Capra Demons possess a design that I find incredibly cool and simple at the same time, so I find it cool to see that they have been partially used in ER.

[@benboucher592]

I like to wonder what their role is with the Perfumers, especially Perfumer Tricia. We find them in near eachother quite frequently, so it is likely they have some sort of agreement

[@maxthepaladin2147]

An interpretation of the story is that perfumers used to try and heal, or at least treat, omenhood. When they failed at that, some of them decided to just kill all the omen, and that's how omenkillers were born

[@PajamaPantsStudios]

Daaaaamn

[@smoke600k]

god bless zullie the witch bringing UNIQUE stuff to the lore

[@vladspellbinder]

There's just something about a smiling mask... . Thanks for the video.

[@BudravenOG]

1:08 not just horns of omen, but specifically baby omens

[@mellowmelly9258]

i guess they also have a vestigial tail-"bone"