He was a guy who would basically make a dragon at the top of the world tree and the bottom hate each other by telling these guys insults that the other says
Yeah and his design reminds me of some of Gustave Dore’s illustrations of that work. He’s one of the best looking bosses and it’s a tie as my favorite looking between him and Astel
One of the few that I actually noticed while playing (this only happened to me with Cinder, Twin Princes, Pontiff, Ludwig, Maria, Gael phase 2 and Mohg), which makes it one of my favourites. Sorry for the long list but I truly love the soundtracks for this games
In paradise lost Lucifer sounded like he wanted freedom from God but really just wanted to replace God. When he insisted the angels to rebel he builds himself a golden chariot and throne. So it was never really about being free just replacing one master with another.
“Dictators free themselves, but enslave the people!” -Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator. One of my favorite quotes, applies to all kinds of oppressors who try to “free” themselves by simply climbing the ladder until they’re on top.
Which was the entire point of the story. The pride of Lucifer turned him from a high ranked angel to a decieving snake only because he felt envy of the Son of God and the creation of mankind. The more I think of it, the more I see just how much of a comparison you can make with Rykard. Nice!
What I really like is how dangerously similar Rykard and Ranni are. Both are rebelling against the golden order and the greater will and both are willing to sacrifice everything, including their own bodies. Sadly, Rykard lost himself in the process, while Ranni is able to fulfill her ambitions. I really love the parallels that can be made between the different characters in the game, such as Morgott and Mohg and Godrick and Godfrey.
the body thing its diferent for ranni tho, she was an empyrean and needed to specifically shed her empyrean flesh to scape control or interference by her two fingers, rykard sacrificed his body to become one with the serpent, he had other choices to fulfill his ambitions, he just took the "easy" way and for curiosity, what parallels can be traced between godrick and godfrey? they are basically oposite
@@Necrotaku999 I think that's precisely the point, Godfrey is the eldest in the lineage and a great warrior, Godrick the youngest and a fraud, while Godfrey kills Serosh so his strength is unbound, Godrick clings to any borrowed power he can find, etc
12:40 The weapon also seems to be related to the power of storms and lightning, like Indra's Vajra or Zeus' thunderbolts, both of which were weapons of lightning used to defeat primordial serpents, Vritra and Typhon, respectively. This aren't the only times we see beings of myth associated with heaven, the sky, storms, and lightning taking on primordial serpents either; that same story repeats in pretty much every mythic cycle you can think of, and was probably the inspiration for Gwyn's battle with the ancient dragons and the draconic weakness to lightning in the Souls games. The serpent-hunting spear in particular, and the description which says it 'manifests a blade of light' however, seems specifically evocative of apocryphal descriptions of Michael's weapon, which, when battling Samael, was said to be as large as the river Euphrates.
Obligatory: TOGETHAAAAAA!!!!!! Also great video. Though i must admit the Lucifer archetype tends to ignore the wickedness of the Devil to the detrement of the potential character. His hatred for everyone and everything he sees as unfit is often also left out in favour of having the audience believe him a tragic hero. Rather than a failed usurper with delusions of possible victory. To me i find it would be more interesting for him to remain vicious and have these thoughts and not try to be passed off as some icon to be adored but rather used as a cautionary tale for those who cannot accept their failings.
I mean, that was what Rykard was. It is very much possible that the serpent didn't neccesarily change him. It just brought out the very core of his ambition, which was for him to assume the role of a godlike entity. That hunger and pride lurking within him was just manifested and multiplied tenfold when he fused with the snake. But who knows really. All the stories of the demigods are quite compelling and beautiful.
I'm really liking the focus on analyzing archetypes. It's an incredibly important way of approaching these games, and art in general, that I feel has fallen to the wayside in recent years as people have grown more and more obsessed with things like cheap trivia and subversion instead.
Ahhhh so delighted you mentioned paradise lost! As soon as you referred to Rykard as a “modern Lucifer archetype” I inwardly screamed MILTON!!!! I studied this work in my Shakespearian literature course and, must admit, didnt appreciate the fiction so much at the time. Fantastic connection. I bet the influence of literature from this time period runs heavier than we currently think in Elden Ring. I look forward to the continuing efforts of Ratatoskr and the community at large.
I will always appreciate listening to your take on the lore of characters within the broader concept of storytelling/character building. I feel like so many lore enthusiasts are missing the larger points if these characters by only focusing on what is in the game. Keep up the good work.
Yes absolutely, i think everyones own interpetations trough each individuals own hobbys and obsessions would lead to more people adding to the lore by, as in Ratatoskr's case, adding literature to what we are given in the Game!
I think the reason why we don't get this is because Rykard's ultimately always going to fail. He's sought salvation in the wrong places and is contending with a power he can't really direct or control. Based on the dialogue and descriptions involving him and the snake it sounds like what began for him as another campaign against the Erdtree has ended with him completely losing himself and just gorging himself silly in his cave. The Devourer ending can't happen because it's never really started.
I 100% agree, awesome video! The parallels between Lucifer and Rykard are super insightful, and I think there is another similarity between the two: Lucifer was once one of the best angels at God's service, and similarly I think that Rykard was once an inquistor of the Golden Order: _His official title is praetor Rykard, a praetor being someone who administers justice, so someone must have gave him his title, and I think that this title was given to him by the Golden Order. Also I think that the portrait with masked man in Volcano Manor represents Rykard, and in that portrait he's wearing a tunic very similar to the officials attire (which is worn by his inquistor Ghiza too) and the descriprion reads: "Grubby blue robe worn by magisterial officials to carry out their grim tasks. Surveillance, executions, gruesome rituals...The darkest duties drive the wheels of mankind." So I don't think that he became a ruthless inquistor only after the Shattering, I think that he was always an official inquistor but he worked for the Golden Order, and as Bernahl says "I thought you a Tarnished bred by virtue. Perhaps playing that part led you to your doubts, I wonder." _In the prison town you can find an omenkiller and many tortured albinaurics, both omen and albinaurics are despised by the Golden Order and so I think that Rykard used to hunt them before his rebellion _In the prison town you can find many flags representing the Erdtree, probably because Rykard was once loyal to the Erdtree _In Mount Gelmir you can find the pulley bow and crossbow, weapons crafted by "a certain genius who learned Golden Order Fundamentalism" who lived in the craftsman's shack on Mount Gelmir, showing another connection between Rykad and the Golden Order
This is also a concept I have in mind that you're in hell. When you said "...you're about to recieve the penal fire." reminds me also that he is a Praetor, a Judge. So, sword is also a symbol of justice, The Lady of Justice for example. When Rykard's use the Taker's Flame it looks like a sentence.
I've always found it interesting how societies obsession with "freedom" has led to servitude nonetheless, but to vices or systems put in place to secure that supposed freedom. Popular culture has captured people with a form of worship of the devil. Worship as in adopting a philosophy found in Crowley's teachings, where he puts it more plainly. It makes sense the world reflects this chaotic mentality.
I agree. I remember watching a transformers skit from a youtuber, where Nemesis Prime explains his plans for the autobots and decepticons. He describes autobots as fools chasing a utopian fictional understanding of "freedom", which will only grant a temporary peace, but will always give rise for someone to take power to maintain or restrict that freedom, which ultimately does the opposite of what the autobots think it's doing, causing more wars in the process. And on the other, he describes decepticons as power hungry tyrants who's ambitions will destroy themselves, and everyone with it. The skit was surprisingly well thought out philosophically, for a parody. The youtuber is named JohnnyFlash if you're interested, your comment reminded me of that particular video
I agree. I remember watching a transformers skit from a youtuber, where Nemesis Prime explains his plans for the autobots and decepticons. He describes autobots as fools chasing a utopian fictional understanding of "freedom", which will only grant a temporary peace, but will always give rise for someone to take power to maintain or restrict that freedom, which ultimately does the opposite of what the autobots think it's doing, causing more wars in the process. And on the other, he describes decepticons as power hungry tyrants who's ambitions will destroy themselves, and everyone with it. The skit was surprisingly well thought out philosophically, for a parody. The youtuber is named JohnnyFlash if you're interested, your comment reminded me of that particular video
Freedom is a dilemma. Absolutely freedom invariably means the strong dominate the weak, the only freedoms you have a those you have the power to exercise. Any imposition of order (necessary to protect the freedoms of the weak) will invariably necessitate the removal of certain freedoms.
I highly suggest you check out David Lightbringer's channel maybe even ask him for a podcast to discuss how Martin writes mythology and what archetypes he follows. I think it will make for a fascinating discussion. Overall the influence of Martin on ER is super underrated in the community I have yet to watch a video where people seriously discuss it.
@@kiberme I’ve gotten to the mountains recently and I had to move to a different mountains biome because the mosquitos would fly up the slopes and kill me. Pain.
@@kiberme Ugh, brings back memories of the Rotted blob guy fight. His spawn location was a small island out in the middle of the ocean which was entirely swamp biome. If I parked my ship nearby, leeches would try to destroy it. So I had to leave it way out in the ocean, swim to the island, clear out zombies so they wouldn't aggro during the fight, fight the boss, then die. I eventually wised up and built a teleporter and enclosed it with terrain so zombies wouldn't smash it to pieces. Great game over all but that sequence of events nearly broke me. Just finding that stupid boss was a massive undertaking.
I wonder if this heroic theme of rebellion could also be equally applied to Ranni, or potentially even more so. From what I recall, Ranni seems to be the original doubter of the Greater Will and the Erdtree due to her status as an Empyrean and her desire to be separated from their control. It was thanks to her that the Rune of Death propagated across the Lands Between, that Godwyn was assassinated, and thus the Shattering occurred. Hell, Ranni was the one who gave Rykard the means to repel Maliketh’s Blade should he ever enter the fray. Was it ever mentioned if Rykard was the first to doubt the Golden Order, or could it have been Ranni or Marika? Or would Ranni be partially inspired by Lilith, like how Rykard is inspired by Lucifer? The idea doesn’t seem too far-fetched since the Greater Will and the One Great in Japanese have the same Kanji used to describe the Judeo-Christian God.
Ranni? Marika was the first to rebel to serve her own desires. At the same time, the Greater Will is not symbolic of God either, as it's purposes are obscured in much the same way occultism is.
Ranni's archetype is the mystic scholar. The twist is she becomes so obsessed with gnostic knowledge that she gives up her noble birth, seeks death (and suicides), completely abandons the physical realm, fights demons in the spiritual realm, and seeks to remake the world with a focus on the non-physical/lunar (as opposed to physical/sun). Rykard fits Satan better, as he wants to rebel against God (erdtree) and take physical control over the earth.
Ranni has Hindu influences, at least her four-armed blue-skinned puppet has. Ranni did not partake in the shattering, she discarded her rune once she realised, that she was the potential next vessel for the greater will. So she didn't want to rule. She isn't actively rebelling, but rather running and hiding. The whole assassination plot is quite misterious, too. We know Ranni is behind it, but Marika's assassins did it and they are after Ranni later on.
@@blumiu2426 the Greater Will’s desire is order, it’s actually one of the least obfuscated things in the game. (Edit) Marika is the main thing in the golden order that’s extremely obscure, as the game gives nothing direct of Marika’s intentions outside of Melina’s which may or may not be the same.
So this is an excellent video. It sums up all my thoughts on Rykard neatly and puts it more eloquently than I could. I hope you have plans on doing a similar video on Mohg as Mohg is also a satan/lucifer analogue. The trident, goat like features, wings. Beyond that having that scheming and manipulative personality, hiding away, but powerful and patient. So many good things I like about both of those characters. Excited to see what comes next!
Rykard is also the character who sells his soul to the devil in pursuit of his noble goal. Which is another very archetypical trope. His knights joined him in his cause, because they saw it as worthy, but only later realize how the ambitions of their lord has become twisted and devoured by the serpent. Or to put in in a more real life setting: The leaders of rebellion very often become exactly what they were claiming to fight against, because in the end their goals were maybe not as pure as they thought?
Awesome video! I'm really enjoying these character specific lore dives, the inclusion of quotes from Miyazaki and connections to real literary motifs really sets these apart. Hoping for more in the future!
You really make the best Elden Ring lore content, I greatly love that you came back to it, and cannot wait to see what other fields you'll explore next, in this game or something else entirely !
That is what everyone thought. I remember in the early weeks after release, people complaining about Caelid were warned by players further into the game--that they prepare themselves for true hell. Personally, I really enjoyed touring the manor and quaint prison town. It it is the second-best legacy dungeon behind Stormveil, and is even more pleasing in terms of its architecture. It is just a shame about all the corpses.
The music from Rykard when he uses that final attack also sounds alot like 'Night on Bald Mountain' from Fantasia. He even gives off Chernobog vibes, which are also based on Lucifer.
That opening section of the video, talking about how each demigod has their own sort of theme of classic herosim that became distorted made me think about godrick. At first i thought godrick might be an exception to that, but i realize now he fits that theme well. His story starts off as the perfect sort of "underdog" situation. A weak, near mortal man born into a lineage of golden demigods that has to prove himself and his worth to his people. But, godrick fails at this. The jeering, insults, and outright disrespect of all the people around him, likely even his own family, ate him from the inside out. Eventually, it drove him to pure madness, being constantly reminded of his own insecurities and faults. If the situation was slightly different, if he had more of a chance, theres every possibility he couldve lived up to the golden lineage in his own way. But, thats not this story. * Edit shit, i shouldve watched further into the video lmao
When you start talking literature, my reaction is that of wonder and careful listening. Keep doing what you do! I don't think other creators come close to that sort of atmosphere and thought that you generate!
One of my complaints with Elden ring was the lack of humanoid/knightly bosses, but I appreciate this video because it adds more context to the misshapen monstrous boss design
@@WeyounSix yeah I heard that too! I haven’t played DS2 but my favorite bosses from 1&3 were the more humanoid ones Really wish characters like Vyke and Vargram were real bosses instead of NPC ones
@@marcofromtropoje3169 I would agree that a nice mix would be nice rather than just one or the other. I agree, Vyke and Elanora could have been regular bosses if made strong enough. Vyke would make sense since he was 1 step away from becoming Elden lord
Man you bringing up Miyazaki's interviews just makes me wish they put all of George R.R. Martin's writings for Elden Ring in a book and sold it. I don't think it'd be a piece of material that would 'spoil' the game's world or reveal too much of the mystery in it's lore, but it would be an incredibly interesting read to just see what he came with for the game, and how much of it remained, and how much of it was transformed, and into what.
2:10 I remember someone saying that all George did was write "The Loathsome Dungeater" on a sheet of paper and handed it off to fromsoft. Then they just made up shit and hoped for the best.
I can't _believe_ it took an entire lore video for me to see the parallels between Volcano Manor and Hell. Thank you for connecting that synapse in my brain, Ratatoskr!
I know you said that you’re going to kind of slow down on Elden Ring content but truly I don’t think that there’s another channel that does the same quality stuff that you do, in your own way. Like going into outside references to the extent that you do is just wonderful in my opinion and I really hope you can find more inspiration in this game that warrants more great videos. Thanks for the great content as usual.
I really love the whole biblical theme here, with Rykard, the noble freedom fighter Lucifer of recent tales, descending to the power-hungry ravenous SERPENT Lucifer of the bible. I think that’s a really fun dynamic.
Hmm. Very interesting. Thanks for the Video. That was very well reasearched and nicely put together. Amazing Content. Bah, enough of that. Your Content always was amazing and you know that. Just dont go hollow on us, will you?
Mr. Ratatoskr, or to whomever it may concern. I find the content of your videos very enjoyable and significantly beneficial as I enjoy listening to lore videos in the background while playing elden ring. I find analysis and interpretations such as yours fantastic thematic inspiration for new game plus play thrus or better character designs for my existing play thru. That said. I do have some criticism with the delivery of your analysis. And I think your channel could benefit from a more digestible video essay format. If your goal is to elude to literary inspirations/themes that may be present in the game. The format of " introduce in game theme-> introduce the literary connection you think present-> quote from literature to demonstrate the theme-> then show connections between the two and similarities/differencesin their portrayl" is altogether clunky and hard to follow. Its a format that lends itself better to a written essay where the reader can glance back up to re-examine the initial theme after reading your argument. For video essays the content "flows" more smoothly when you discuss the themes in game and kinda merge it with the literature connections first. So you can flesh out the minutiae of your comparison before you actually state the media your making the comparison to. This way if the theme in question is not self evident (like how snakes eat prey whole being used as a metaphor for gluttony) it draws the viewers focus to that detail when you then discuss the literature material. For example: "Rykards ambition leading to rebellion, his charisma and nobility gaining him loyalty of an army. Who would reject the religious hegemony of the ruling authority and refused to serve their order. Opting instead to rule in their own kingdom having been rejected for their blasphemy. Mirrors the war lucifer wages in heaven after gaining some angles who would later become his demons in paradise lost." It lets the listener follow along and pseudo feel like they're discovering it themselves the same way you did. After the initial connection is made. You can establish another one in a similar manner but a bit quicker: this is where I would put the quotation to punctuate the connection. Also while your Brothers Karamazov video made sense to read from the greater passage. Here you could get away with just saying the final phrase of "better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" as it gets the main point across but also leaves a little bit more to the literature in question. In case the people might find it worthwhile to read after seeing parallels between a game they like. Fantastic content as always. Hope to see more Elden Ring discussions! Thank you for your time.
I really enjoy these videos that compare a concept in the game to parallel concepts in other great literature. It helps me appreciate the game more, because these concepts are much less explicit in the game than they are in these books. The first I remember was the video explaining the Flame of Frenzy by reading Ivan's rejection of the world in the Brother's Karamazov. Also appreciate the note that it wasn't Milton's intention to truly romanticize the Lucifer character.
You could also add to that the fact that the weapon you get from his remembrance is the blasphemous sword, and Satan translates to the adversary, yeah rykard really fits that Luciferan archetype. I hope w get to see.more of him in a future DLC, maybe we get to join his covenant and oppose the greater will TOGETHAAAAAAA!
That Valheim music had me nostalgia tripping a bit. Didn't think I could be nostalgic for a year ago, but it was such an interesting game launch during such a slow time in the world...
I agree with the Rykard/Lucifer comparison, but I also want to talk about the whole "Fromsoft's take on Norse Mythology" thing. The most obvious "Big Snek" comparison for Rykard is generally Jormungandr - and parts of your description of lucifer (12:13 - 12:20, "thrown down to earth") sound quite like Jormungandr, though that probably just points to where the Christians got their inspiration. However, I think in highlighting the greed aspect a much better comparison would be Fafnir. Greed turning him into a dragon, namely. Rykard is also quite small to be a direct iteration of Jormungandr, though that's really neither here nor there.
Wake up babe, new Ratatoskr lore video
I'm new here(first video). Ratatoskr is such a cool fucking name
@@khalilrahme5227 It's the name of the squirrel from Norse mythology!
@@XDflamingdragonDX yo that's fucking cool I had no idea
@@XDflamingdragonDXI didn’t know that!
He was a guy who would basically make a dragon at the top of the world tree and the bottom hate each other by telling these guys insults that the other says
In Dantes inferno the devil is depicted as eternally chewing on people, something which Rykard definitely seems to do as well.
Yeah and his design reminds me of some of Gustave Dore’s illustrations of that work. He’s one of the best looking bosses and it’s a tie as my favorite looking between him and Astel
Rykard's ost is one of my favorites.
One of the few that I actually noticed while playing (this only happened to me with Cinder, Twin Princes, Pontiff, Ludwig, Maria, Gael phase 2 and Mohg), which makes it one of my favourites. Sorry for the long list but I truly love the soundtracks for this games
same
Multiple instances where it aligns with what the boss is doing too.
Mine too, people always say Godskin theme, but nah Rykard is better.
Mine too, together with Radahn's and Placidusax's
In paradise lost Lucifer sounded like he wanted freedom from God but really just wanted to replace God. When he insisted the angels to rebel he builds himself a golden chariot and throne. So it was never really about being free just replacing one master with another.
Same with Rykard
“Dictators free themselves, but enslave the people!” -Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator. One of my favorite quotes, applies to all kinds of oppressors who try to “free” themselves by simply climbing the ladder until they’re on top.
Which was the entire point of the story. The pride of Lucifer turned him from a high ranked angel to a decieving snake only because he felt envy of the Son of God and the creation of mankind.
The more I think of it, the more I see just how much of a comparison you can make with Rykard. Nice!
What I really like is how dangerously similar Rykard and Ranni are. Both are rebelling against the golden order and the greater will and both are willing to sacrifice everything, including their own bodies. Sadly, Rykard lost himself in the process, while Ranni is able to fulfill her ambitions. I really love the parallels that can be made between the different characters in the game, such as Morgott and Mohg and Godrick and Godfrey.
the body thing its diferent for ranni tho, she was an empyrean and needed to specifically shed her empyrean flesh to scape control or interference by her two fingers, rykard sacrificed his body to become one with the serpent, he had other choices to fulfill his ambitions, he just took the "easy" way
and for curiosity, what parallels can be traced between godrick and godfrey? they are basically oposite
@@Necrotaku999 they both have white hair
@@agent004skin yes because both are old
@@Necrotaku999 I think that's precisely the point, Godfrey is the eldest in the lineage and a great warrior, Godrick the youngest and a fraud, while Godfrey kills Serosh so his strength is unbound, Godrick clings to any borrowed power he can find, etc
@@BetItAllOnBlack exactly
12:40
The weapon also seems to be related to the power of storms and lightning, like Indra's Vajra or Zeus' thunderbolts, both of which were weapons of lightning used to defeat primordial serpents, Vritra and Typhon, respectively. This aren't the only times we see beings of myth associated with heaven, the sky, storms, and lightning taking on primordial serpents either; that same story repeats in pretty much every mythic cycle you can think of, and was probably the inspiration for Gwyn's battle with the ancient dragons and the draconic weakness to lightning in the Souls games.
The serpent-hunting spear in particular, and the description which says it 'manifests a blade of light' however, seems specifically evocative of apocryphal descriptions of Michael's weapon, which, when battling Samael, was said to be as large as the river Euphrates.
Obligatory:
TOGETHAAAAAA!!!!!!
Also great video. Though i must admit the Lucifer archetype tends to ignore the wickedness of the Devil to the detrement of the potential character. His hatred for everyone and everything he sees as unfit is often also left out in favour of having the audience believe him a tragic hero. Rather than a failed usurper with delusions of possible victory. To me i find it would be more interesting for him to remain vicious and have these thoughts and not try to be passed off as some icon to be adored but rather used as a cautionary tale for those who cannot accept their failings.
I mean, that was what Rykard was. It is very much possible that the serpent didn't neccesarily change him. It just brought out the very core of his ambition, which was for him to assume the role of a godlike entity. That hunger and pride lurking within him was just manifested and multiplied tenfold when he fused with the snake. But who knows really. All the stories of the demigods are quite compelling and beautiful.
I'm really liking the focus on analyzing archetypes. It's an incredibly important way of approaching these games, and art in general, that I feel has fallen to the wayside in recent years as people have grown more and more obsessed with things like cheap trivia and subversion instead.
A thousand times this!
So Max0r meant it literally when he said that Rykard was Satan huh
Mad as he is, it takes brains to make that content without burning to a crisp.
Ahhhh so delighted you mentioned paradise lost! As soon as you referred to Rykard as a “modern Lucifer archetype” I inwardly screamed MILTON!!!! I studied this work in my Shakespearian literature course and, must admit, didnt appreciate the fiction so much at the time. Fantastic connection.
I bet the influence of literature from this time period runs heavier than we currently think in Elden Ring. I look forward to the continuing efforts of Ratatoskr and the community at large.
tfw you realize Paradise Lost is biblical fanfiction.
@@TheSuperRatt lmfao yes exactly. I had to write a paper on that original fanfic and everything, ugh
Excellent stuff, man. Character dives like this seem like a great way to dig further into elden ring. Can't wait to see what's next!
I will always appreciate listening to your take on the lore of characters within the broader concept of storytelling/character building. I feel like so many lore enthusiasts are missing the larger points if these characters by only focusing on what is in the game. Keep up the good work.
Yes absolutely, i think everyones own interpetations trough each individuals own hobbys and obsessions would lead to more people adding to the lore by, as in Ratatoskr's case, adding literature to what we are given in the Game!
I wish there were a "Rykard" ending where you actually devoured the remains of marika or something like that, then moved to devour the outer gods
I think the reason why we don't get this is because Rykard's ultimately always going to fail. He's sought salvation in the wrong places and is contending with a power he can't really direct or control. Based on the dialogue and descriptions involving him and the snake it sounds like what began for him as another campaign against the Erdtree has ended with him completely losing himself and just gorging himself silly in his cave. The Devourer ending can't happen because it's never really started.
I 100% agree, awesome video! The parallels between Lucifer and Rykard are super insightful, and I think there is another similarity between the two: Lucifer was once one of the best angels at God's service, and similarly I think that Rykard was once an inquistor of the Golden Order:
_His official title is praetor Rykard, a praetor being someone who administers justice, so someone must have gave him his title, and I think that this title was given to him by the Golden Order. Also I think that the portrait with masked man in Volcano Manor represents Rykard, and in that portrait he's wearing a tunic very similar to the officials attire (which is worn by his inquistor Ghiza too) and the descriprion reads: "Grubby blue robe worn by magisterial officials to carry out their grim tasks. Surveillance, executions, gruesome rituals...The darkest duties drive the wheels of mankind."
So I don't think that he became a ruthless inquistor only after the Shattering, I think that he was always an official inquistor but he worked for the Golden Order, and as Bernahl says "I thought you a Tarnished bred by virtue. Perhaps playing that part led you to your doubts, I wonder."
_In the prison town you can find an omenkiller and many tortured albinaurics, both omen and albinaurics are despised by the Golden Order and so I think that Rykard used to hunt them before his rebellion
_In the prison town you can find many flags representing the Erdtree, probably because Rykard was once loyal to the Erdtree
_In Mount Gelmir you can find the pulley bow and crossbow, weapons crafted by "a certain genius who learned Golden Order Fundamentalism" who lived in the craftsman's shack on Mount Gelmir, showing another connection between Rykad and the Golden Order
I like how you focus on the themes and artistic inspirations for the characters as much or more than the events that happen in the story
Thank you for digging into this stuff deeply for us. Started watching you since your Elden Ring Videos. Thank you for all of them!
This is also a concept I have in mind that you're in hell. When you said "...you're about to recieve the penal fire." reminds me also that he is a Praetor, a Judge. So, sword is also a symbol of justice, The Lady of Justice for example. When Rykard's use the Taker's Flame it looks like a sentence.
The way he's introduced it seems like it's just another day at work.
I've always found it interesting how societies obsession with "freedom" has led to servitude nonetheless, but to vices or systems put in place to secure that supposed freedom. Popular culture has captured people with a form of worship of the devil. Worship as in adopting a philosophy found in Crowley's teachings, where he puts it more plainly. It makes sense the world reflects this chaotic mentality.
I agree.
I remember watching a transformers skit from a youtuber, where Nemesis Prime explains his plans for the autobots and decepticons.
He describes autobots as fools chasing a utopian fictional understanding of "freedom", which will only grant a temporary peace, but will always give rise for someone to take power to maintain or restrict that freedom, which ultimately does the opposite of what the autobots think it's doing, causing more wars in the process.
And on the other, he describes decepticons as power hungry tyrants who's ambitions will destroy themselves, and everyone with it.
The skit was surprisingly well thought out philosophically, for a parody.
The youtuber is named JohnnyFlash if you're interested, your comment reminded me of that particular video
I agree.
I remember watching a transformers skit from a youtuber, where Nemesis Prime explains his plans for the autobots and decepticons.
He describes autobots as fools chasing a utopian fictional understanding of "freedom", which will only grant a temporary peace, but will always give rise for someone to take power to maintain or restrict that freedom, which ultimately does the opposite of what the autobots think it's doing, causing more wars in the process.
And on the other, he describes decepticons as power hungry tyrants who's ambitions will destroy themselves, and everyone with it.
The skit was surprisingly well thought out philosophically, for a parody.
The youtuber is named JohnnyFlash if you're interested, your comment reminded me of that particular video
Freedom is a dilemma. Absolutely freedom invariably means the strong dominate the weak, the only freedoms you have a those you have the power to exercise. Any imposition of order (necessary to protect the freedoms of the weak) will invariably necessitate the removal of certain freedoms.
I am very much looking forward to a video on Leonard’s heroic concept , oh yeh the guy who rides him is also important I guess
I highly suggest you check out David Lightbringer's channel maybe even ask him for a podcast to discuss how Martin writes mythology and what archetypes he follows. I think it will make for a fascinating discussion. Overall the influence of Martin on ER is super underrated in the community I have yet to watch a video where people seriously discuss it.
...And now he adds Valheim music as a background. Thank you Ratatoskr. Good to have you here.
I was pretty surprised but to hear the music. Coincidentally I’m playing Valheim right now
@@greymon1665 good taste bro. Beware of the mosquitos and don't get stuck on finding fine wood.
@@kiberme I’ve gotten to the mountains recently and I had to move to a different mountains biome because the mosquitos would fly up the slopes and kill me. Pain.
@@greymon1665 btw they could be one-shotted from almost any bow if I remember correctly.
@@kiberme Ugh, brings back memories of the Rotted blob guy fight.
His spawn location was a small island out in the middle of the ocean which was entirely swamp biome.
If I parked my ship nearby, leeches would try to destroy it. So I had to leave it way out in the ocean, swim to the island, clear out zombies so they wouldn't aggro during the fight, fight the boss, then die.
I eventually wised up and built a teleporter and enclosed it with terrain so zombies wouldn't smash it to pieces.
Great game over all but that sequence of events nearly broke me. Just finding that stupid boss was a massive undertaking.
I wonder if this heroic theme of rebellion could also be equally applied to Ranni, or potentially even more so.
From what I recall, Ranni seems to be the original doubter of the Greater Will and the Erdtree due to her status as an Empyrean and her desire to be separated from their control. It was thanks to her that the Rune of Death propagated across the Lands Between, that Godwyn was assassinated, and thus the Shattering occurred. Hell, Ranni was the one who gave Rykard the means to repel Maliketh’s Blade should he ever enter the fray.
Was it ever mentioned if Rykard was the first to doubt the Golden Order, or could it have been Ranni or Marika?
Or would Ranni be partially inspired by Lilith, like how Rykard is inspired by Lucifer? The idea doesn’t seem too far-fetched since the Greater Will and the One Great in Japanese have the same Kanji used to describe the Judeo-Christian God.
Ranni is garbage
Ranni? Marika was the first to rebel to serve her own desires. At the same time, the Greater Will is not symbolic of God either, as it's purposes are obscured in much the same way occultism is.
Ranni's archetype is the mystic scholar. The twist is she becomes so obsessed with gnostic knowledge that she gives up her noble birth, seeks death (and suicides), completely abandons the physical realm, fights demons in the spiritual realm, and seeks to remake the world with a focus on the non-physical/lunar (as opposed to physical/sun).
Rykard fits Satan better, as he wants to rebel against God (erdtree) and take physical control over the earth.
Ranni has Hindu influences, at least her four-armed blue-skinned puppet has. Ranni did not partake in the shattering, she discarded her rune once she realised, that she was the potential next vessel for the greater will. So she didn't want to rule. She isn't actively rebelling, but rather running and hiding. The whole assassination plot is quite misterious, too. We know Ranni is behind it, but Marika's assassins did it and they are after Ranni later on.
@@blumiu2426 the Greater Will’s desire is order, it’s actually one of the least obfuscated things in the game.
(Edit) Marika is the main thing in the golden order that’s extremely obscure, as the game gives nothing direct of Marika’s intentions outside of Melina’s which may or may not be the same.
Just found this guy and his content is a whole win
So this is an excellent video. It sums up all my thoughts on Rykard neatly and puts it more eloquently than I could.
I hope you have plans on doing a similar video on Mohg as Mohg is also a satan/lucifer analogue. The trident, goat like features, wings. Beyond that having that scheming and manipulative personality, hiding away, but powerful and patient. So many good things I like about both of those characters. Excited to see what comes next!
Great one! The way you compare Elden Ring’s themes to western canon is fantastic. The game hits different with that context.
The unfortunate thing is that if you saw the king of hell he would look like the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen. That's how he gets you.
Rykard is also the character who sells his soul to the devil in pursuit of his noble goal. Which is another very archetypical trope.
His knights joined him in his cause, because they saw it as worthy, but only later realize how the ambitions of their lord has become twisted and devoured by the serpent.
Or to put in in a more real life setting: The leaders of rebellion very often become exactly what they were claiming to fight against, because in the end their goals were maybe not as pure as they thought?
Awesome video! I'm really enjoying these character specific lore dives, the inclusion of quotes from Miyazaki and connections to real literary motifs really sets these apart. Hoping for more in the future!
Do you really expect to people to unsubscribe with such fantastic videos?
love your lore videos and the philosophy of connecting the lore with real life, keep up the great work, when you find something ;)
nice work tho! I think Rykard is the closest to a transformed Apostle (berzerk) yet! Loved the Miyazaki interviews.
It is quite glorious to witness the great archetypes refracted through each new lens. Dope vid my dude.
Always a pleasure to just listen to you talk about your vision of the ER lore
Another excellent video as always!
You really make the best Elden Ring lore content, I greatly love that you came back to it, and cannot wait to see what other fields you'll explore next, in this game or something else entirely !
I think you’re pretty dead on with the hell & Lucifer allusion because that’s pretty much exactly what I thought of when I got to volcano manor.
That is what everyone thought. I remember in the early weeks after release, people complaining about Caelid were warned by players further into the game--that they prepare themselves for true hell. Personally, I really enjoyed touring the manor and quaint prison town. It it is the second-best legacy dungeon behind Stormveil, and is even more pleasing in terms of its architecture. It is just a shame about all the corpses.
Forgot the part where his balled up form looks suspiciously like a skyward fist ✊
Spot on video. It makes so much sense, and highlights the layers of genius that have made this game.
The music from Rykard when he uses that final attack also sounds alot like 'Night on Bald Mountain' from Fantasia. He even gives off Chernobog vibes, which are also based on Lucifer.
Great video, man. Love the John Milton reading.
That opening section of the video, talking about how each demigod has their own sort of theme of classic herosim that became distorted made me think about godrick.
At first i thought godrick might be an exception to that, but i realize now he fits that theme well.
His story starts off as the perfect sort of "underdog" situation. A weak, near mortal man born into a lineage of golden demigods that has to prove himself and his worth to his people.
But, godrick fails at this. The jeering, insults, and outright disrespect of all the people around him, likely even his own family, ate him from the inside out. Eventually, it drove him to pure madness, being constantly reminded of his own insecurities and faults.
If the situation was slightly different, if he had more of a chance, theres every possibility he couldve lived up to the golden lineage in his own way. But, thats not this story.
* Edit shit, i shouldve watched further into the video lmao
When you start talking literature, my reaction is that of wonder and careful listening. Keep doing what you do! I don't think other creators come close to that sort of atmosphere and thought that you generate!
Man I really like your presentation...you have some of the best lore videos on the poutube.
I find theses deep dives into specific character lore/concept really interesting. I would love to see more of videos like this for morrgot or malenia.
Thanks so much, I hope you make more vids like this.
I quite literally, about 30 minutes ago finished reading paradise lost and here you are talking about.
One of my complaints with Elden ring was the lack of humanoid/knightly bosses, but I appreciate this video because it adds more context to the misshapen monstrous boss design
Interesting bc the largest complaint about DS2 bosses was that there were way too many humanoid knight bosses lmao
@@WeyounSix yeah I heard that too! I haven’t played DS2 but my favorite bosses from 1&3 were the more humanoid ones
Really wish characters like Vyke and Vargram were real bosses instead of NPC ones
After Dark Souls 2, the diversity of bosses is so welcome.
@@marcofromtropoje3169 I would agree that a nice mix would be nice rather than just one or the other. I agree, Vyke and Elanora could have been regular bosses if made strong enough. Vyke would make sense since he was 1 step away from becoming Elden lord
@@marcofromtropoje3169 I think overall DS3 had probably the best mix/ratio of Monsters to Knights
This is a phenomenal video!
That quote of paradise lost with the Elden Ring intro theme just hits the spot.
As always great video
Never thought I’d see Milton used in a ER lore video, let alone it be pertinent to the content. Well played. English class came in handy.
Awesome video!
Your editing is noticeably improving. Great video as always!
12:33 Notice how the serpent is curled up giving the appearance of a closed fist, a common symbol of rebellion.
Pftt I'm never going to unsub if this keeps up
Man you bringing up Miyazaki's interviews just makes me wish they put all of George R.R. Martin's writings for Elden Ring in a book and sold it.
I don't think it'd be a piece of material that would 'spoil' the game's world or reveal too much of the mystery in it's lore, but it would be an incredibly interesting read to just see what he came with for the game, and how much of it remained, and how much of it was transformed, and into what.
At 5:00 got one of those dumb ads from Google.
"He was thinking- HI its me, world famous dragstar trixie..."
Pretty fitting for Satan himself.
2:10 I remember someone saying that all George did was write "The Loathsome Dungeater" on a sheet of paper and handed it off to fromsoft. Then they just made up shit and hoped for the best.
I can't _believe_ it took an entire lore video for me to see the parallels between Volcano Manor and Hell. Thank you for connecting that synapse in my brain, Ratatoskr!
Very cool analysis! Love the application of literary and archetypical analysis to the new media we consume today.
These type of videos beat any lore videos imo
I like the editing choices this time around
I hope you continue this series; I want to hear your thoughts on the three empyreans ~
This is great! Thank You!
Great analysis! Far deeper than my own interpretation of ambition with no regards of consequences, anything is sanctioned in the name of Greater Good.
Finally, been waitin years for this (in lands between time) 😁
I just love when you talk about literature
I know you said that you’re going to kind of slow down on Elden Ring content but truly I don’t think that there’s another channel that does the same quality stuff that you do, in your own way.
Like going into outside references to the extent that you do is just wonderful in my opinion and I really hope you can find more inspiration in this game that warrants more great videos.
Thanks for the great content as usual.
I'm a simple man. When a new Ratatoskr FromSoft video is posted. I watch it.
Another excellent video my dude, introspective and thought provoking as always!
Truly not talked about enough. Now do parallels and contrasts with mohgwyn! 😍
was not expecting that persona 5 spoiler
I really love the whole biblical theme here, with Rykard, the noble freedom fighter Lucifer of recent tales, descending to the power-hungry ravenous SERPENT Lucifer of the bible. I think that’s a really fun dynamic.
Hmm. Very interesting. Thanks for the Video. That was very well reasearched and nicely put together. Amazing Content.
Bah, enough of that. Your Content always was amazing and you know that. Just dont go hollow on us, will you?
Excellent as always
I smell a series (at least I hope)
God I would love so much to be able to read the stuff GRRM wrote for Elden Ring
If you look closely at Rykard when you enter the boss room he resembles a closed fist punching out of the ground before revealing his serpent form.
The Valheim music in the background is the banger of this video
Did not expect persona 5 spoilers. Thanks
Mr. Ratatoskr, or to whomever it may concern.
I find the content of your videos very enjoyable and significantly beneficial as I enjoy listening to lore videos in the background while playing elden ring.
I find analysis and interpretations such as yours fantastic thematic inspiration for new game plus play thrus or better character designs for my existing play thru.
That said. I do have some criticism with the delivery of your analysis. And I think your channel could benefit from a more digestible video essay format.
If your goal is to elude to literary inspirations/themes that may be present in the game. The format of " introduce in game theme-> introduce the literary connection you think present-> quote from literature to demonstrate the theme-> then show connections between the two and similarities/differencesin their portrayl" is altogether clunky and hard to follow.
Its a format that lends itself better to a written essay where the reader can glance back up to re-examine the initial theme after reading your argument.
For video essays the content "flows" more smoothly when you discuss the themes in game and kinda merge it with the literature connections first. So you can flesh out the minutiae of your comparison before you actually state the media your making the comparison to. This way if the theme in question is not self evident (like how snakes eat prey whole being used as a metaphor for gluttony) it draws the viewers focus to that detail when you then discuss the literature material.
For example: "Rykards ambition leading to rebellion, his charisma and nobility gaining him loyalty of an army. Who would reject the religious hegemony of the ruling authority and refused to serve their order. Opting instead to rule in their own kingdom having been rejected for their blasphemy. Mirrors the war lucifer wages in heaven after gaining some angles who would later become his demons in paradise lost." It lets the listener follow along and pseudo feel like they're discovering it themselves the same way you did. After the initial connection is made. You can establish another one in a similar manner but a bit quicker: this is where I would put the quotation to punctuate the connection.
Also while your Brothers Karamazov video made sense to read from the greater passage. Here you could get away with just saying the final phrase of "better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" as it gets the main point across but also leaves a little bit more to the literature in question. In case the people might find it worthwhile to read after seeing parallels between a game they like.
Fantastic content as always. Hope to see more Elden Ring discussions! Thank you for your time.
The music weaves
There's a certain sentient editing software who made the exact same correlation as a joke in one of his videos like a month ago 👀
I really enjoy these videos that compare a concept in the game to parallel concepts in other great literature. It helps me appreciate the game more, because these concepts are much less explicit in the game than they are in these books. The first I remember was the video explaining the Flame of Frenzy by reading Ivan's rejection of the world in the Brother's Karamazov.
Also appreciate the note that it wasn't Milton's intention to truly romanticize the Lucifer character.
I don't understand how it can be so obvious and elegant, but I don't see it until I watch the video
I like this series! As you said, all the demigods are in their own way, heroic.
You could also add to that the fact that the weapon you get from his remembrance is the blasphemous sword, and Satan translates to the adversary, yeah rykard really fits that Luciferan archetype. I hope w get to see.more of him in a future DLC, maybe we get to join his covenant and oppose the greater will TOGETHAAAAAAA!
Damn, that Persona 5 spoiler just slides in out of nowhere. 😣
New Elden Ring video from the Longsword main Ratatoskr.
I always thought Mohgwyn was more this archetype what with being called Luminary, but I see what you mean.
wow this was perfect timing, only just defeated praetor rykard for my first time yesterday
I would enjoy a whole series of boss explications
Can’t get enough
Loved the valheim music in the background.
That Valheim music had me nostalgia tripping a bit. Didn't think I could be nostalgic for a year ago, but it was such an interesting game launch during such a slow time in the world...
I feel like a huge metaphorical truth this game drives home is that any virtue, taken to an extreme, is no longer a virtue.
I agree with the Rykard/Lucifer comparison, but I also want to talk about the whole "Fromsoft's take on Norse Mythology" thing. The most obvious "Big Snek" comparison for Rykard is generally Jormungandr - and parts of your description of lucifer (12:13 - 12:20, "thrown down to earth") sound quite like Jormungandr, though that probably just points to where the Christians got their inspiration.
However, I think in highlighting the greed aspect a much better comparison would be Fafnir. Greed turning him into a dragon, namely. Rykard is also quite small to be a direct iteration of Jormungandr, though that's really neither here nor there.
Also, the serpent is a simbol of the devil in christian mitology, so i think that the reference is pretty clear
If you've received the penal fire, I suggest you consult a urologist.
Time once again for another healthy and rich injection of lore and readings to immerse us into understanding the concept
I hope you break down all the remaining shard bearers too!
Great video, as always.