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Tarnished

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Did you mean..For the player character, seek The Tarnished (Protagonist).

Arise now, ye Tarnished. Ye dead, who yet live. The call of long-lost grace speaks to us all.- Narrator

The Tarnished (褪せ人, Asebito; lit. "Faded Ones/People") are a faction in Elden Ring. The player character, the Tarnished, is a member of this group.

Overview[]

The Tarnished are individuals who lost the grace of the Erdtree and were consequently banished from the Lands Between by Queen Marika the Eternal. Following the breaking of the Elden Ring, the Tarnished were beckoned by lost grace, fragmentary divine light from the Erdtree, to return.

Background[]

In the early age of the Erdtree, Godfrey, the first Elden Lord, fought many battles throughout the Lands Between. He led the War Against the Giants, and defeated the Storm Lord. When his last enemy fell, it is said that the hue of his eyes faded.[1] Queen Marika addressed Godfrey and his warriors as she divested them of their Grace, commanding them to leave the Lands Between and travel to a faraway land, where they would wage war and die.[2] She promised them that, after their deaths, their Grace would be given back, and that they would return to the Lands Between once again, to wage war and brandish the Elden Ring.[3]

The Long March[]

ER Icon Talisman Axe Talisman

The Tarnished waged war in foreign lands

Godfrey led his kinfolk away from the Lands Between on an exodus referred to as the Long March.[4] They left their home on boats, although one was said to have been left behind.[5] The warriors who accompanied Godfrey honored him by wielding axes,[6] although Godfrey's own axe was broken in battle during the course of the march.[7] When the Long March came to an end, Godfrey divested himself of kingship and became a simple warrior once more.[4] As Hoarah Loux,[8] he became a chieftain of the Badlands, revered by its bravest warriors.[9]

The Tarnished settled in lands outside the Lands Between, and bore descendants who were also Tarnished.[10] As Queen Marika had commanded them, the Tarnished lived and died in these distant lands.

Return to the Lands Between[]

Hoarah Loux, Chieftain of the Badlands

Hoarah Loux is granted Grace once more

A long time after the Tarnished left the Lands Between, the Elden Ring was shattered and Queen Marika disappeared.[11] Marika's offspring, the Demigods, claimed shards of the Elden Ring. Tainted by their newfound strength, the Demigods warred in the Shattering, causing the Greater Will to abandon them.[12] With the war yielding no victor, the Guidance of Grace was extended to the Tarnished, who returned from the dead and went back to the Lands Between, guided by Grace.[13][14] Upon setting foot in the Lands Between once more, the Tarnished received the aid of the Two Fingers, who bid them to seek the Great Runes possessed by the Demigods so as to restore the Golden Order and become Elden Lord.[15] The Tarnished, given life by Grace,[16] gained a form of immortality,[17], allowing them to return from the dead over and over on their quest to become Elden Lord.

The Guidance of Grace brought together the Tarnished and their Finger Maidens, women in the service of the Two Fingers who were tasked with serving their appointed Tarnished.[18] The Finger Maidens would offer guidance and aid to the Tarnished, as well as turning the Runes they gathered into strength.[19]

Table of Lost Grace[]

ER loading screen roundtable hold

The Tarnished gathered around the Table of Lost Grace

Roundtable Hold became a gathering place for the Tarnished, and was where they sought audience with the Two Fingers.[20] Among the first Tarnished to visit Roundtable Hold were Vargram the Raging Wolf[21] and Errant Sorcerer Wilhelm[22]. Vyke, a knight of the Roundtable Hold, came closer than any other Tarnished to becoming Elden Lord. However, without announcement, he disappeared below Leyndell and was scorched by the Frenzied Flame.[23] At some point, the Cursemark of Death was recovered from the body of Godwyn the Golden and taken the Roundtable.[24] Fia, the Deathbed Companion came to the Roundtable in opposition where she siphoned the vigor of champions and developed Fia's Mist, a spell that only works against the Tarnished.[25]

Although the Tarnished had once again been given Grace, some lost sight of it once more.[26][27][28] At least one Tarnished, Roderika, never once saw the Guidance of Grace.[29] With many Tarnished seemingly abandoned by Grace, an Elden Lord would not arise for a long time. Roundtable Hold, once the home of venerated warriors, stopped receiving visitors.[30]

Game events[]

ER melina hood

Melina assists the Tarnished who became Elden Lord

Main article: The Tarnished (Protagonist)

This would change when a Tarnished of no renown crossed the fog and entered the Lands Between.[31] Unlike others, this Tarnished did not meet a Finger Maiden to guide them,[32] but was instead chosen by Torrent,[33][34] the spectral steed, and Melina,[35] a mysterious woman bound to Grace. Melina provided them with the Sacred Flasks and offered to serve as their maiden, aiding them by turning their Runes into strength. She extended an invitation to the Table of Lost Grace and bestowed the Spectral Steed Whistle to summon Torrent.[36][37]

This Tarnished gained an audience with the Two Fingers, claimed the Great Runes, and journeyed to the Erdtree to brandish the Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord.[38]

List of known Tarnished[]

Notes[]

Trivia[]

  • The Japanese name for the Tarnished, 褪せ人 (Asebito; lit. "Faded Ones/People") may also be translated as Tarnished Ones.

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Elden Lord Crown
  2. ↑ Marika: "My Lord, and thy warriors. I divest each of thee of thy grace. With thine eyes dimmed, ye will be driven from the Lands Between. Ye will wage war in a land afar, where ye will live, and die."
  3. ↑ Marika: "Then, after thy death, I will give back what I once claimed. Return to the Lands Between, wage war, and brandish the Elden Ring. Grow strong in the face of death. Warriors of my lord. Lord Godfrey."
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Remembrance of Hoarah Loux
  5. ↑ Rusted Anchor
  6. ↑ Axe Talisman
  7. ↑ Axe of Godfrey
  8. ↑ Godfrey, First Elden Lord: "Now I fight as Hoarah Loux! Warrior!"
  9. ↑ Champion Headband
  10. ↑ Hidetaka Miyazaki: "The ancestors of the characters that are present in the world were banished and exiled from The Lands Between, these Tarnished."
    (Elden Ring: The Big Hidetaka Miyazaki Interview - Summer of Gaming)
  11. ↑ Narrator: "The fallen leaves tell a story. The great Elden Ring was shattered. In our home, across the fog, the Lands Between. Now, Queen Marika the Eternal is nowhere to be found,"
  12. ↑ Narrator: "Soon, Marika's offspring, demigods all, claimed the shards of the Elden Ring. The mad taint of their newfound strength triggered the Shattering. A war from which no lord arose. A war leading to abandonment by the Greater Will."
  13. ↑ Hidetaka Miyazaki: "Tarnished are those who have died outside of the Lands Between, only to be awakened by grace and beckoned there"
    (The Overture of Elden Ring)
  14. ↑ Memory of Grace
  15. ↑ Finger Reader Enia: "So it is that the Tarnished are guided by grace. Called to act. Brave Tarnished, your Great Rune is a handsome shard of the Elden Ring. Seek another of its kind. To become Elden Lord, and restore the Golden Order."
  16. ↑ White Mask Varré: "Are you familiar with grace? The golden light that gives life to you Tarnished."
  17. ↑ Hidetaka Miyazaki: "The immortality of the Tarnished originates with the guidance of grace."
    (The Overture of Elden Ring)
  18. ↑ Finger Maiden Robe
  19. ↑ Melina: "Have you heard of the Finger Maidens? They serve the Two Fingers, offering guidance, and aid, to the Tarnished. But you, I am afraid, are maidenless. I can play the role of maiden. Turning runes into strength."
  20. ↑ Coded Sword
  21. ↑ Raging Wolf Helm
  22. ↑ Errant Sorcerer Robe.
  23. ↑ Fingerprint Armor
  24. ↑ Fia, Deathbed Companion: "Have you ever seen a hallowbrand? When the first of the demigods died, his flesh was marked with the half-wheel wound of the centipede. Godwyn's hallowbrand has since been recovered at the Roundtable Hold. But there is another hallowbrand out there somewhere. And I must find it. Before the time comes we receive our Lord."
  25. ↑ Fia's Mist
  26. ↑ Sorcerer Rogier: "You can see it then, I take it? The guidance of grace. Well, enjoy it while you can. I'm Tarnished, like you. But unlike you, I've seen neither hide nor hair of this guidance for the longest time."
  27. ↑ Blackguard Big Boggart: "You're Tarnished too, ain'tcha? Can you see it then? The guidance of grace, I mean. I can't see it at all no more."
  28. ↑ Sir Gideon Ofnir: "I understand you've been speaking to Nepheli. She is my daughter.I took her in when she lost the guidance of grace."
  29. ↑ Crimson Hood
  30. ↑ Sir Gideon Ofnir: "Oh, this is a rare occasion. I can't remember the last time a new Tarnished made their way to the Roundtable."
  31. ↑ Narrator: "And one other. Whom grace would again bless. A Tarnished of no renown."
  32. ↑ White Mask Varré: "Unfortunately for you, however, you are maidenless. Without guidance, without the strength of runes, and without an invitation to the Roundtable Hold..."
  33. ↑ Melina: "Torrent had your measure from the very start."
  34. ↑ Ranni the Witch: "I am certain now, fate steered us to our first encounter. I must thank Torrent too, for his part."
  35. ↑ Melina: "Don't worry Torrent, fortune is on his/her side. We found him/her here, after all. One of his/her kind is sure to seek the Elden Ring. ...Even if it does violate the Golden Order..."
  36. ↑ Melina: "There is but one other thing I can do to offer you guidance. I can take you to the Roundtable Hold... Gathering place of Tarnished champions, guided by Grace..."
  37. ↑ Melina: "It will summon a spectral steed named Torrent. Torrent has chosen you. Treat him with respect."
  38. ↑ Memory of Grace
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