How Elden Ring's Most Forgettable Boss Earned A Loyal Fanbase

Summary Some of the most iconic bosses in Elden Ring have gained popularity for logical reasons, like notrious difficulty and marketting.

The forgettable tutorial boss, Soldier of Godrick, became unexpectedly famous within the fanbase.

Despite being one of the easiest bosses, the Soldier of Godrick gained fame as an in-joke among Elden Ring players.

If Soulsborne titles like Elden Ring are known for anything other than their crushing difficulty, it would be their boss rosters. Every title in the series has some iconic bosses, whether that be Dark Souls' Ornstein and Smough or Bloodborne's Lady Maria. Elden Ring is no exception in this case, especially because many of its main bosses are presented as demigods who participated in the Shattering or key figures in the game's lore, as is the case with Godfrey, First Elden Lord, among others.

Many of Elden Ring's most iconic enemies have such a status for logical reasons. Starscourge Radahn and the notorious Malenia starred heavily in the promotional material and trailers. Malenia, in particular, personifies the immense, and somewhat unfair, difficulty of Soulsborne titles, whereas Margit, an early game boss, gained notoriety as the first great hurdle that many new players experienced. Unlike them, there's almost no explaining how the Soldier of Godrick managed to gain immense popularity among the fans.

Malenia's popularity was bolstered when a player called Let Me Solo Her gained internet fame by being summoned to beat her on other players' behalf. He is characterized by having a jar helmet and nothing else for armor, brandishing two katanas as his armaments.

2:16 Related You're Going To Regret Counting Down The Days Until Elden Ring's DLC Release Although many players can't wait to get their hands on the upcoming Elden Ring DLC, the wait maybe even longer for FromSoftware's next title.

Elden Ring's Tutorial Boss Is Meant To Be Forgettable

Soldier Of Godrick

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There are two tutorial bosses in Elden Ring. At the very start, there is the Grafted Scion, which is meant to kill the player, similar to the werewolf at the start of Bloodborne. After either dying to this boss or a broken off bit of a cliff later on, players will have the opportunity to do a beginner section through the Cave of Knowledge. This area includes all the instructions one would expect of a tutorial, showing players how the game works, before pitting them against another foe: The Soldier of Godrick.

Unlike the Grafted Scion, the Soldier of Godrick is meant to be beaten. He can also be skipped, since the Cave of Knowledge is optional, which makes his rise in fame even more confusing. The Soldier of Godrick is probably the easiest boss fight in the entire game, having the same moveset as normal Godrick Soldiers. Essentially, that's what the boss is, except the name is slightly different, and he gets a health bar at the bottom of the screen, unlike his more ordinary brethren. He does have the same equipment as normal Godrick Soldiers too, adding to his intentional forgetfulness.

The Soldier of Godrick doesn't even have his own theme, using the generic "Formidable Foe I" track for the fight. This boss' lore supports this use of a general theme, since he is naught but a regular soldier of Godrick the Grafted's army. This boss is practically the easiest in Soulsborne history, although it should be noted that Field Bosses (essentially mini bosses with health bars) are a new addition in Elden Ring.

The Soldier of Godrick is equipped with the relatively common Lordsworn's Greatsword, which can be found on the back of a carriage near the Gatefront Ruins. His armor set is dropped by Godrick Soldiers.

Related Elden Ring Review: Hands Across America Elden Ring is a staggeringly large, nearly perfect culmination of everything FromSoftware has developed since the release of Demon's Souls.

Elden Ring's Soldier Of Godrick Became Soldier Of God, Rick

Silly Head-Canon Becomes An Elden Ring Community Inside Joke

A case of ironic humor spread through the Elden Ring fanbase like a virus. Many began to facetiously label the Soldier of Godrick as the hardest boss in the game, uploading tutorials in which they would show themselves struggling against the tutorial boss. Even commenters on these videos would get involved, asking how the player managed to accomplish such a mean feat. At this point, the Soldier of Godrick was rebranded by fans into the Soldier of God, Rick.

This was taken a step further when versus videos on Soulsborne games began to rise in popularity. The toughest Soulsborne bosses would be pitted against each other to see who came out on top, and with many having established conflicts in the game's lore, Elden Ring versus videos became quite popular, like a recreation of Malenia and Radahn's trailer battle from Garden of Eyes on YouTube. The creators of these videos would sometimes adjust the stats of bosses to even the playing field, and when Rick entered the arena, his stats were changed to ridiculous numbers to truly fulfill his ironic reputation.

The Soldier of God, with a stat boost on his side, began to be pitted against some of Elden Ring's heavy hitters. Malenia, Blade of Miquella, Maliketh, the Black Blade, and even Godfrey, First Elden Lord, all fell to this version of the Soldier of Godrick. Rick had now become an Elden Ring legend, a popular in-joke for the game's loyal fanbase, who decided to run with it far longer than most jokes.

Elden Ring goes up to New Game +7, which is the apex of the game's scaling. Many versus videos used bosses with NG+7 stats so that they would fight at their most powerful.

The Legacy Of A Once Forgotten Elden Ring Boss

Challenge Runs & A Fan-Favorite Character

To this day, if the Soldier of Godrick is mentioned to Elden Ring players in on the joke, they will likely regale the tales of this unbeatable hero that surpassed even the demigods of the Lands Between. The addition of a comma made for such a simple, yet effective rebranding and, although the joke is no longer at its height, it still lives on in the memory of many players. Mods that alter Rick into the fiend he is joked to be likely help in refreshing the memory.

The Soldier of God, Rick run became popular after the boss' rise to fame. Unlike Elden Ring's no hit runs, which are practically impossible for most, or intricate pacifist runs, the Soldier of God, Rick run involves donning the enemy's armor and sword, and that's it. Still, many completed this run in the boss' name, taking revenge on Godrick the Grafted for trapping Rick in the Cave of Knowledge while demonstrating his true power against mighty foes. Those that wish to carry on Rick's legacy will have to take this build into the Land of Shadow in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.