The DLC's Weirdest Enemy - Elden Ring Lore

[@domewing2012]

Missed opportunity not to have a new flail modeled after these things and their spitting attack.

[@MadLuigi]

Oh and it could have a stamina effect too! Def some miss opportunities with the DLC weapons

[@jhank0cean]

That would have been a sick build with the Jellyfish Shield

[@davidfrancisco3502]

​@@MadLuigi More missed opportunities include an unique weapon reward after slaying Bayle, a named ghostflame dragon that give us a stronger ghostflame breath and a golden turtle shell shield to match with the two headed turtle talisman and the well-pickled turtle neck.

[@Grimsly3736]

⁠@@davidfrancisco3502Charo’s Hidden Grave or that area on the Cerulean Coast with the big hole to the Stone Coffin Fissure should’ve had a named Ghostflame Dragon instead of a basic heart though I’d have it drop a weapon made from its heart to harken back to the dark souls dragon weapons “Heart of Putrescence” make it a callback to the Obsidian Greatsword but purply

[@Pedalnyphitis]

I feel like I’m the only one who uses bastards star flail lol

[@hiroshima19]

it's the blue gummy worm, they're sour and taste like blue raspberries

[@colemix1852]

I bet they taste so good

[@ace-smith]

giving a poor destitute child in the shadow lands a monster energy to witness his outlandish reaction, he drinks it without incident and remarks that it tastes a bit like spirit eel flesh

[@AI_MEME_CORP]

I like the flavor fusion ones; with the tart strawberry side. I always start with it.

[@ultra824]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this, but the eels have a strange unique trait! For some reason, they're vulnerable to the Madness status effect despite not being players or npcs! This might be a glitch (actually they might have patched it already, i haven't checked recently.) If it's intentional, it probably relates to the lore about the flame of frenzy being able to destroy spirits.

[@ace-smith]

interesting! i wonder if it could also be implying these guys were once regular humans who got warped into eels

[@bungiecrimes7247]

​@ace-smith what in this game isn't just a person who has been warped?

[@Kryptnyt]

@@bungiecrimes7247 Bears

[@БродягаТатарский]

⁠@@Kryptnytwb mimic tear bear?

[@thomasraymond7912]

That actually makes me wonder, has anyone tried frenzy on spirit jellyfish? They're also spirits, and we know from the time we use our spirit jellyfish for a talisman that they were once human.

[@DerpyBerb]

In a lot of their areas, there are gravestones that have turned spectral over time. And they’ve always seemed like a shadow version of the “living sentry stones” to me, I’m curious about the process of stones becoming spirits, or whatever is going on there. Also, there have been many references in the past (such as the Okami women, “snake eyes” in Sekiro from Princess Mononoke) Hidetaka has made from Haiyao. Miyazaki recognize Miyazaki.

[@glowindark64]

YOU BETTA RECANIZE

[@childofcascadia]

They have feet! Zullie popped one out of the ground. It has little human legs and feet on its other end buried in the ground, just like its lil human arms. That makes me wonder if they were once more human. Like maybe they *are* the spirits of the bodies of those buried in those nearby graves.

[@TheSkyfolk]

you should watch the first minute of the video again lol

[@hightiernub1313]

I don't think they're human. But who knows. Having hands in elden ring lore basically states that the creature has some sort of intelligence. This refers to the dragon's and beast men that evolved "5 finger hands" from the crucible.

[@adawg3032]

hands dont mean human more so than it denotes that they possess intelligence. for example: albinaurics, misbegotton, omen, all have arms and legs. not humans. elden beast also has humanoid arms and legs, which also aligns with the intelligence bestowed upon it by the greater will.

[@adawg3032]

@@hightiernub1313 idk if evolution had a hand in it, the lore actually says the greater will bestowed intelligence to the beast men. maybe evolution is the means upon which the bestowal occured, however i believe that when the greater will arrived in the land between the first thing it did after finding a vassel for the elden ring was grant intelligence to the beastmen, who then built farum azula under dragonlord placidusax. We arent really sure who the vassel for the elden ring under the age of dragons was, but what we do know is eventually marika became the vessel and had godfrey as her consort and eventually faught and won against the dragons, ushering in the golden order. It is possible that godfrey himself slayed the god of the dragons, or it is possible the elden beast didnt turn into the elden ring until marika ascended to godhood and was able to house it

[@hightiernub1313]

@adawg3032 My point was 5 fingers is a sign of intelligence. That could mean these eels have some sort of sentience or maybe could be more intelligent than typical animals.

[@KurtacusRex]

With how they conpress themselves it's a shame they didn't put just ONE popping out of a random jar like a party popper. Imagine 2/3 through the new jar dungeon one of these just pops put at you randomly to tickle ur stamina when your expecting meatball #47

[@hermithefrog629]

It would be very miyazaki to weaponize a prank can of snakes

[@realm087]

Look at the alchemical symbolism for caput mortuum

[@danilohernandez8989]

Death's Head is a perfect name for their faces, you are 100% on the money here

[@ryangregson3256]

Woah, that's no coincidence! Good catch

[@brocksteele7475]

Holy hell

[@Celastrous]

:o

[@franciscodetonne4797]

The white-ish band in the middle of the body, however, resembles the big band on an earth worm, which is IIRC their sex organ. I do feel like they do what earth worms do: eat up the dead and feed it back to the Scadu Realm. So they are as much worms as they are eels. Definitely an enemy made up of a composite of real-world inspirations.

[@SuperMaster000X]

Yes, they are called frend :)

[@WeebSlayer71]

Corny

[@llab3903]

@@WeebSlayer71live a little

[@Grimsly3736]

@@WeebSlayer71bro has all the enemies

[@KosOrSomeSayKosmo]

For what it's worth, the funnels above Metyr's arena are extremely similar in their appearance up close. Even though those seem much more massive, it's worth considering that we teleport there and Metyr tries to commune through a microcosm.

[@geordiejones5618]

There's a running motif of water and death being interlinked throughout the base game and DLC that I think doesn't get explored enough. Death is one of the most important parts of the game, and its fluid nature really links together otherwise isolated parts of the lore and even hints at the cosmic divinity of the Shadow Realm and Lands Between.

[@BiggieCrescent]

These dudes and the Catacombs Sorcerer/"Putrescence Sorcerer" fighting for who has less lore or literally anything explaining who and what they are:

[@adawg3032]

idk we know what putrescence is but have no clue what these things are so we know more about that dude than these dudes

[@montezumamc]

Mini theory: what if the spirit eels are only spirits because they literally got squished and killed by the entire land of shadow. Maybe the method in which marika sealed away the land of shadow was by literally sinking it from the middle of the map, and the giant curtain over top the land of shadow isn’t a magical veil, so much as a literal shield from the water that it is now below. This could also explain why the spirit boats are all stone, to intentionally sink down to the land of shadow? Obviously kind of a ridiculous theory lol, but still

[@DrJankkinandMrhigh]

Can we pleaseee get a dlc that where we go to the afterlife, where its super aquatic, its belived the gloom eye'd queen is dead so we can go see her and of course mermaid man and maybe deathbed compainions. It would so neatly finish up all the story lines. -just wants more sea spirit friends-. Marika said godfrey had to go to the badlands and die to come back after the shattering. Maybe we go to the badlands, die and go to the spirit world.

[@TheBlaringBlue]

Really glad you mentioned the aquatic connections with death throughout the game. I think that's the key here and that these eels are really just reinforcing aquatic death imagery, helping solidify the land of shadow's place in the larger elden ring universe. Great video

[@spindlespice197]

I think the fingers are inspired by coral. The tubes in the mothers room looks like tube coral and perhaps the fingers repopulate via propagation just like coral. Coral also turns into coral rock when it dies which could explain the finger ruins

[@LoreHunter]

Good stuff! Even without explicit lore they manage reinforce the aquatic death imagery in a fun and evocative way.

[@MadLuigi]

@@LoreHunter thanks! And definitely. They really do clearly drive home the themes even without anything explicit

[@LevovitLore]

What do you think about the tweet from the official Elden Ring Twitter? "Even through the veiled sky, the gleaming stars can guide those who dare to gaze up at them" It seems like the stars are guiding them. What could that mean? I can't build a full picture myself

[@Greywander87]

I seem to remember watching a video a long time ago, probably from Gaijin Goombah, that was talking about some of the cultural inspirations in Animal Crossing. In particular, there is apparently a furniture item (I've never played Animal Crossing, so I'm not sure on the details) that resembles a cactus and has a face made of three holes, just like the kodama and spirit eel. I remember it being mentioned that the cultural inspiration for these decorations specifically had something to do with death.

[@Iffem]

ah, you mean the Lloid, which are based on haniwa

[@beansnrice321]

I think their hair is an important detail. It vaguely appears to be white and white hair seems to be most associated with horncent and omen creatures.

[@adawg3032]

the hair also matches very much with the hair on the 2 fingers, but i have always been of the belief that marika and the 2 fingers are made of the same silvery lifeless material. would explain the link between numens aka shamans and the fingers, as the fingers do appear to have similar flesh to marikas.

[@MultiEpicX]

The Shamans in the jars also all have white hair. Could be a spirit related thing? Idk

[@marlinisgreat]

THEY HAVE LITTLE FUCKING LEGS UNDERNEATH?! THEY MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS

[@mmyr8ado.360]

Since the Land of Shadow is where all death wash up, the faces of the spirit eels may be inspired by some of the designs of the Haniwa dolls, albeit noseless. It's definitely not the first time Miyazaki took inspiration from Miyazaki.

[@Grimsly3736]

With the references to alchemy in this dlc especially the putrescences which is very likely a nod to Putrefaction there face is likely a Caput Mortuum a Latin term literally meaning “Dead Head” it’s used to signify useless byproduct of chemical processes such as sublimation that’s when something goes from solid to gas without becoming a liquid which possibly could be the process of Ghostflame burning the dead leaves these Spirit Eels with leftovers that they eat

[@evanholt1752]

The proper name for these things is clearly "Blue Hootys"

[@Bigbadtyrant1]

Faces of the spirit eels match the three eyes face of Godwyn cadavers

[@adawg3032]

yeah theyre most likely the "deaths head" symbol of alchemy, the caput mortuum. Useless material left over by a chemical reaction in its alchemical meaning.

[@wallybonejengles5595]

I haven't inspected this close enough yet, and im at work on the bosses right now. But it appears to me they all seem to look as if they are reaching out toward the Cerulean Coast. As if there is something there they are revering or mourning. It could be a coincidence that that happens to be where the ones i inspected faced.

[@weevil_1457]

(Irrelevant lore tangent) but Noone talks about how Golden hippopotami have lore consistency Each carry a scadutree fragment, and are also chimeras(Hippo, Rhino, Alligator- even wings which were cut content) When the Scadutree avatar defends itself, it fights with thorns, and when the Scadutree is under threat of fire, it grows thorns around Enir Elim(who idolize the crucible) In addition the Music for the hippos is the "Erdtree Avatar" theme, To me this means the hippos may either be born containing- or perhaps purposefully devour scadutree fragments to defend them- one even using the Crucible aspect THORNS to defend them Making the Golden Hippopotamus a fun through line between the Scadutree and the Crucible

[@shiroamakusa8075]

Enir Ilim was overshadowed and put behind the sealing tree by Marika to deny the Hornsent any chance to ascend another god who could avenge them on her. I think the Hornsent grandam or "The Hornsent" say so at one point.

[@froggie610]

On the Surging Frenzy Flame item description- it says that spirits are eternal. Hinting that these blue gummy worms function similarly towards those who live in death. The natural instinct of life is to continue even when there is no body or place to return to. Further connecting spirits and life together- with these 'eels' being the most recent example of this. Connecting the life of the land towards its spirithood of following deaths and eternal spirits.

[@adawg3032]

I think more so they are the spirits of those who were buried in the catacombs. The cerulean coast is full of them, and putresence oozes from the coffins of impure lives according to the item description of congealed putrescence itself. but they are definitely spirits, and i think that the stone coffin fissure is where they all come from. spirits of the impure, forever bound to the land, unable to leave.

[@whatimthinking]

I'm gonna need more information on this.The theory of the twinbird death

[@sk8legendz]

The Lampreys made me think Messmer was the result of Marika and The Fingers getting it on til i found Ymirs questline *sigh of relief that was*

[@nickhard7615]

During that run up to the coffin fissure or whatever it was called, there's a path you can ride through and they just kinda keep popping up, like a welcoming gateway, sort of and I fully expected something to come out of the ground and reveal that these things are attached to a much bigger entity

[@Ohnooooooooooooooooo12345]

You didn't talk about how some of them explode

[@CoperliteConsumer]

4:25 _Seasghetti_

[@xhinoteque]

I think that spirit eel is a hint that we are, in fact, in the botton of the ocean of the lands between map of base game, and Marika sealed the scadu-realm there. The Scadutree we see in the distance is just the true form of the erdtree and that's why we cannot reach it, because, as a matter of fact, it is located in the lands between. People in the lands between see the illusion of the tree, while the people of the shadow realm see the tree's true form. Ironic, indeed. And, that Marika can pull that off is a testament to her true power as a god.

[@SlipperyPeteClassic]

Underrated comment.

[@jetpropulsionlabrador3615]

10:53 The Korok in Zelda have some similar faces though not exactly. Definitely can see the connection.

[@drallore]

I always thought the fact that these eels have a clitellum in their design was a big hint that compost the dead bodies into literal energy. I then figured the reason we see them here in the scadulands is that the erdtree's destined death thing took the spirits/bodies of the dead for itself, effectively eliminating all of the eels that may have once resided outside the scadulands, or at least forcing them to evolve. I also thought that the lightning wisps were manifestations of that composed energy, but I don't think that's fully true since they did appear in the lands between, which wouldn't make sense if these eels were limited to the scadulands. Either way, I think you're right on the money in presuming that these eels are heavily involved with the processing of dead material, and likely are an essential part of the ecosystem of death that existed prior to the golden order being formed.

[@adawg3032]

wish we had a weapon that could turn red and do more damage kind of like a weapon version of the jellyfish shield. would be pretty cool, maybe it could be a normal hammer then you use the ash and it becomes a colossal hammer for like 20 seconds or something.. would be cool

[@BiscuitsAintShi]

Finally lore on the spirit Weiners

[@asher.v9195]

This lil guy quickly became my favorite pokemon

[@NikkuKunUWU]

Nah they gummy worms. When they're mad they literally become the red/blue gummy worm

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

I like how fromsoft decided that in ED death should be associated with water so its just the bottom dweller ghost.

[@Xalashaska]

Lore of the Lightning Sheep pls 🙏🏼

[@OnSchoolyard]

It’s like kodama faces one eels…that shoot threads as a defense like sea cucumbers…

[@nobilisvaga5267]

I always thought that the gravebirds were eating these things since you dont ever see them together. Because one is food.

[@jamB2007]

All I see in these guys are princess mononoke kodamas😂 these are little buddies!

[@bobbywalker2980]

Finally the lore we actually want.

[@vasylpark2149]

I have a hypothesis. That Godwyn's death created these creatures. He is the prince of death. If someone could find all the locations where Godwyn or Tibia Mariners are and see where the spirit Jellyfish and Eels are in relation.

[@alsafyche]

Their name is friend

[@caseys.7317]

Reminds me of godwyns face a little

[@MadLuigi]

Well that would connect with the watery-death theme!

[@Glinglemcflingle]

I already imagine the new messages “seek dog”

[@The_Corn_God]

They look like me when I wake up thirsty at 3 a.m.

[@jakesteinberg5902]

I think they’re supposed to be a combination of Garden Eels and Bloodworms

[@krissnoe500]

The land is under water

[@MadkingLeviticus]

They're called spirit noodles

[@tincano-beans2114]

Poor Fromsoft youtubers have to figure out why they put half these assets in despite cutting the content and context behind them lol.

[@kaosisback8376]

What was cut

[@Glinglemcflingle]

@@kaosisback8376your balls

[@Celastrous]

​@@kaosisback8376content

[@attackmanatee02]

Funny looking guys like this are why i love from software

[@ewyeth7713]

ALAN WAKE REFERENCE ALERT

[@TheHi-NoteFunClub-BeatsByMike]

Half kidding, but given their faces, I'm reminded of an old fairy tale like description some parents choose as an answer when a child asks where babies come from. That said: When two soon to be parents love each other very much, an amygdala visits, first, the patch of garden where young Floras grow, and, nine years later, that amygdala visits those parents, crushes the Eldritch Truth into them, and a moon presence is born. Thats just science. I mean, look it up. 🙂

[@TKTOV]

They are the spirit forms of the dead demigods were killed by maliketh and died in the night of the black knives.

[@hhowdy]

Ofc they have feet, curse you Miyazaki‼️

[@marioludwig4034]

You forgot the most obvious one, their faces also resemble the face on godwyns dead corpse under Stormveil Castle. So def a watery "death" connection there.

[@halley42]

I can't say I see the resemblance myself. Godwyn's face is kind of fan-shaped with distinctive little eye slits, nostrils and no mouth. These guys have a circular face with big round eyes and round mouth hole.

[@marioludwig4034]

@@halley42 godwyns face is upside down. Iam indeed talking about the 3 round slits that make his eyes and mouth, just try to to Focus on those and the resemblence is there.

[@krszm]

eel dogs!!

[@nbmoleminer5051]

Are you going to elaborate on your Twinbird body conspiracy theory?

[@Daweedmon]

Their lil feets and hands are too cute lol

[@Kryptnyt]

Behold, Bowling Cylinder

[@onelividguardsman5681]

those aren't enemies, they're friends!

[@dezeer]

Super Mario"s Shy Guy

[@OnSchoolyard]

It’s a Miyazaki-Miyazaki crossover!!!

[@nowaysis77]

Yeah, course we know we know it's name. Noby Noby boy innit.

[@todd3143]

the nail wizards are more mysterious xd. single dads ftw

[@UFOFriends]

Days in the life of one of these weirds looking things

[@unmpo20]

Why are the spirit eels only present in the dlc and not in the lands between?

[@tylerpetersen6226]

Behold, dog!

[@chrizr2583]

Sorry my Mind was thrown right into Planet cebes dunno what happened i had luck and my varia-suit was already enabled so i went to the lavalevel and shooted that ralnbowlaz0rs straight into that motherbrain and god bless that Metroid i thought he would eat me but.... So whats that blue worm Thing did u say? Joke great Video but damn that flashback U just caused haha Theres a Guy Out there with the brinstar Theme too did U know? :D

[@merlaak]

Did I catch an Alan Wake reference in there?

[@agxryt]

Fleshlight Spirits

[@quailfeather]

They are Chromatids, one half of a split Chromosome. This biological imagery extends from the Two Fingers, which looking at the Two Finger Heirloom reveals that the Two Fingers are themselves Chromosomes; featuring two sets of "arms" and a centomere. The hairs that extend from them give to the idea of DNA strands escaping due to telomere degradation from old age. The Language of Light of the Two Fingers found on their Incantations, Coded Sword, Cipher Pata, Whetblades, and else where is literally their Genetic *Code*. The Two Fingers follow other biological imagery like the Spiral/Double Helix which is most famously represented in DNA. The reason for this is that The Elden Ring is the genetic expression of the gods and has some additional biological themes. Two quick examples are how Godrick's Great Rune is the anchor rune, connecting all the other runes and being representative of Godrick's washed out lineage and penchant for grafting. Morgott's Great Rune shows that he is genetically part of The Golden Lineage and it's likely by our ability to obtain it is indicative of our lineage as well. It may be that Radahn was unable to defeat Morgott specifically because he is not a member of The Golden Lineage and therefor unable to obtain the other anchor rune which declares one The Lord of Leyndell. Won't get into it now, but I also have a theory that Shabriri was the Lord of Leyndell before Morgott obtained the rune after escaping the sewers. The Three Fingers are Chromosomes affected by Trisomy, the tripling of a chromosome. When affecting sex chromosomes this can lead to people being intersex, which could have thematic implications around androgeny and/or divine hermaphrodite gods. Back to the Chromatids. Their explosion move could be a reference to Apoptosis, automatic cell death. It was my theory that this happened to the Two Fingers atop the Divine Towers. The Roundtable Hold Fingers go Senescent.

[@void.sawyer]

They are called Worm

[@kologrzmot7003]

Of course we do, it's forbidden Fleshlight

[@musty_metal69]

I thought they were sea cucumber

[@chairmanRob]

That hard 'k' sound whenever you say Scadu is like nails on chalkboard ever since I've found out the way its supposed to be pronounced 😆

[@TriforceWisdom64]

It will always be the Skadoosh Tree

[@ThatIdiotNamedKiyo]

Snow peashooter

[@Tarnished_Onryo]

I promise I'm not trying to sound mean but I was like 5 minutes in before I realized you were saying "spirit eel" because what you're saying sounds like "spear eel" 😂

[@grimrhythm666]

I just call them lil guys and they are NOT my enemy

[@MUSQUIZanimation]

They have LEGS!?!?!?

[@idlehour]

I wish we could be consort to a finger reader. Enia is a real one. Shes like my acorn wife i know nothing about

[@Hugo_Tate]

Where do people get the actual name for the enemies? It’s not like they ever say it in the game in dialogue or anything

[@PatGunn]

I see no turtles, just dog

[@NaturallyTheCat]

The bababoeyes

[@MrParkinthedark]

Bro really looks like 😮

[@idzim4n219]

As far as trying to find out what "chin" in "chinanago" means, may I direct you to the Japanese word chinpo

[@jamiswamp]

So you’re telling they were dogs all along?

[@wesadams5128]

Why do they have arms and legs though?

[@freemygrandma956]

I’d love a bestiary by fromsoft for this game

[@starchythepotato2877]

spirit eel? no. wiggly walter.

[@timehusk]

who else thinks this is secretly joseph anderson

[@Gabronthe]

they have names?

[@EldenmugLaw]

After watching the 13 minutes video....all I remember is ....They are dog...

[@AdenDouglas-j5q]

5:40

[@princeshadow13]

They have legs?

[@covidfox8264]

his name is ooo guy