What is a God in Elden Ring?

Empyreans, Saints, Gods, and other beings of great power are of major importance in the world of Elden Ring. The method by which godhood is earned however, is largely unknown. Many have speculated, yet the DLC has given us much to explore on this subject…and hopefully a definitive, concrete explanation of the meaning of Godhood in Elden Ring. Join me as we explore what goes on within the walls of the jar.
#eldenring #shadowoftheerdtree #eldenringshadowoftheerdtree #fromsoftware #eldenringdlc

[@nomas5082]

Thing is, well never know if Marika was put into a jar or not. But what we do know is that the Numen have the special ability to meld with others. We see this even in the weakest of Marika's relatives Godrick, who severs his arm mid fight and attaches a dragon head to it. The melding might also help explain why the outer gods are so interested in Marika's relatives, as you stated in the video. The melding in the jar is not evolution, that's not how evolution works. The process is more akin to METAMORPHOSIS. Like what a butterfly does. Remember all those butterflies we come across in the game. Miquella is there to be a mirror to Marika. Marika had several aspects melded to her on her journey to godhood. While Miquella was literally removing parts of himself on his journey to godhood.

[@NickiDecuyper-ex6yb]

Isn't that grafting?

[@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962]

We get the Chrysalid memo in Stormveil castle, which directly relates Grafting to a Metamorphosis of Butterflies. In vers 1.0 it even states that the Chrysalids are pupae, and we find it amidst a pile of corpses that look like they are being cocooned.

[@TheJazzWasALie]

Go look at the bonfirevn godrick video where they look at his model with no clothes. from the neck down Godrick is a tree, bark and all. I actually think he grafted his own head onto a tree. When I first heard the “tree people” theory it’s the first thing I thought of. Grafting only works if you’re part plant; of the tree

[@livingjarcletus]

I agree with you. What i meant by “evolution” in terms of the hornsent, was more their pseudo blasphemous attempt at harnessing evolution and wielding it by way of the jarring process. A cruel imitation. “Cycle of death and rebirth, taken into the hands of mortal men” referred to in the “Great Jar” helm item description

[@ripvanwinkle3432]

Im pretty sure the game is telling us she got the jar like the rest of them. She just harmoniously melded with Radagon. The hornsent created the rebis that went on to godhood. To me it's pretty obvious but I know people want some item description that tells them the direct lore.

[@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962]

In vers 1.0 the Neumen and the Nox are both referred to as Marika's descendants, likely indicating that they are either the same, or that the Nox are the "black sheep" of the same family that have been banished underground for shenanigans. Edit to add that in 1.0 the jars items reference ancient research into achieving eternal life. In other words, Jars were ALWAYS a means to create an eternal god/dess.

[@apolloisnotashirt]

Howdy, my name's Cletus and this is my brother Meatus, and this is newborn baby brother Fetus.

[@TheLyricalCleric]

Don’t forget that the Japanese term used for saint is Miko, a Shinto shrine maiden famous in ancient Japan for practicing ecstatic dancing and cavorting to be filled with the spirit of a Kami and serve as an oracle for things related to that Kami. This helps explain a bit more what the Hornsent wanted from Marika, and how she changed the rules (check out the snakeskin in Bonny village).

[@foreverie2626]

great video ^^ im glad marika being a jar saint is catching on, i think fromsoft focused on it way too much to be anything else. also romina being named saint of the bud has been glazed over so much, i feel like that is a critical part of the story. iirc that is the only other time in game that the term saint is used (besides st trina).

[@livingjarcletus]

Strongly agree about romina. I think the implications of the word saint are made pretty clear in the dlc.

[@matthewcrosbie3323]

I just thought about this, but when you find Marika in the erdtree what's her body look like? It looks like old crumbling pottery. Sorry idk if he covers this, but as soon as the video started and he stated his theory the Marika looking like broken pottery hit me.

[@livingjarcletus]

Haha i do, i mention it at the end. Along with lots of other evidence! Thanks for watching

[@brunocampello881]

Best lore video ever.

[@fredscoffee]

I agree with a zillion things you said, likely one of the best lore video on elden ring today

[@livingjarcletus]

Thank you for the kind words. Please share the video, i hope more see it!

[@johncrondis4563]

Great video, subscribed, especially for that Godwyn video ;) Jack the Mimic thinks Godwyn is not the son of Godfrey also. Some people mentioned the Japanese translation of Jar Saint being a punishment, whic hsi good to consider, but I would like to add that we see some non-horned beings venerated: Midra was a scholar, Nanaya looks like royality and dawns the spiral hair/hood, Marika having golden bracelets, and it is a betrayal so they were alligned at one point. Even if the Jarring ritual wasn't to make a saint but to turn criminals into good people, it still doesn't change the fact that it is possible that a successful creation gets to be part of their society again, and it implies that Marika is part of this (those statues, merged with radagon, and the revenge for her people). We then have Enir-Ilim which has the goal to reaching the divine/the crucible, with those statues all the way to the top of it. Obviously something was going down here, Marika was a part of it, and betrayed them. Again, keep up the good work. I think Godwyn is connected to the dragons, and the GEQ via Destined Death. I think Romina being a centipede connects to this too. I think the forager brood showing that fermentation is a good part of rot links somehow. I also think the Blue Dancer relates to GEQ, just like we have blue dancers on Dominula village (dawning a godskin like symbol on the cape) along with Yallow caped dancers (erdtree symbol).

[@livingjarcletus]

Thanks for the kind words and awesome comment. Speaking to godwyn video, its made and will be coming out monday. Thanks for sub

[@SOLIDPEDINI]

interesting theory

[@Ric-Oliveira]

Finally, someone said that Marika and Radagon had melded together. Have been waiting for a long time to hear someone say that. Could be outside the jar, though. Someone she actually chose to be melded with voluntarily, for love. Maybe the only one she melded with. And maybe she was never jarred. She is not a monstrosity.

[@livingjarcletus]

I think she’s the ideal outcome of the process. Still a monstrosity. Like the idea of her melding with radagon pre jar, but im almost certain she went through the process. She “betrayed” the hornsent, because they saw this as a gift

[@drazzytime9353]

Fromsoft showed us very little in form of cinematic visual evidence but they did show Marika walking up to the gates of divinity as herself and not a Jar. I don’t think she was jarred. Especially considering it’s heavily implied to be a punishment. What does punishment have to do with preparing someone for ascension? And if it is needed, then literally what tf did they expect her to do once becoming a literal god. A Shadow realm would have been the LEAST of my fears idk

[@livingjarcletus]

She wouldnt be a jar when she ascended given the process would not have been complete. You are absolutely correct that it was used as a punishment, ie, the ghost npc dialogue in bonny gaol. However, in jarring shamans the hornsent had ulterior motives. This is made clear in the bonny village itself by the ghost npc at the whipping hut and the tooth whip item description. It was cruel, but the WERE trying to create something (in my opinion, saints/empyreans). However the answer to that question is speculative and what i cover in the video. But the evidence that the hornsent were trying to create something new is very clear

[@keiroty7187]

Well as they say in writing show don’t tell

[@Ragnorok657]

@livingjarcletus To be honest I am starting to think the saint for marika is her other self the Gloam Eyed Queen.

[@mikeyjofalviton5046]

I found the shaman village very visually dull tbh and don’t know what I missed for you to think it was more visually stunning than, say, the Cerulean Coast for comparison.

[@livingjarcletus]

The revelations

[@commentary2378]

O, to be type O

[@epiccthulu]

According to the Japanese use of the jars, Living saint just means “good person” so its living saint like someone would say “my mother is a living saint”. The jar lore in the core game matches this, the jars were shamans and criminals stuffed inside to make the peaceful jars you see in the core game. The english translation error did some damage, the jars are a form of criminal rehabilitation

[@livingjarcletus]

This ignores the evidence, archeological and otherwise, that the hornsent were trying to create something. I would imagine you’re correct about the criminal punishment aspect given the dialogue of the ghost npc in gaols…however, the hornsent had ulterior motives for jarring shamans. They were trying to create something (in my opinion, saints/empyreans). But regardless where you fall on what the goal was, the evidence that the hornsent were trying to create something is strong

[@epiccthulu]

@@livingjarcletus Let's address the Living Saint Issue. The problem is that the English Tranlsations didn't clarify that basedon Japanese text, they meant "Good person" as in "don't stuff me into a jar, I'll live life as a good person" but because of that error, people think "Living Saint" is something of a title, like Demi-God. Now let's talk about the translations errors for Shaman. The Ancestral Shaman's from the base game, their original Japanese descriptions as them as Priests. The Shamans stuffed into jars? Medicine, healer, that's a better translation. Now Marika's Shaman people? comes from thee incorrect translation of a Miko, a woman in Japan that performs soothsaying and healing type roles for the spirit. Three separate groups of people, each one different, using the term "shaman" and let's be clear, nothing indicated that the spirit was a woman, as the term Miko would imply. The Hornsent value brutal paths of redemption and shun excessive pleasure. This is their culture, rather than a science project, and theonly indication of something different going on is the snake skin at the village.