In Elden Ring, characters often talk about the Tarnished. Your player character is apparently also a Tarnished. But what does that actually mean, and why are these figures at the same time so unpopular and so important? MeinMMO tells you everything we know so far.
The story and lore in Elden Ring are rarely told directly and understandably. Thus, it follows the tradition of the Souls games. You learn more about the world through item descriptions. However, following the rare dialogues can be challenging.
Characters often mention the names of other figures you have never seen. They use terms like Shattering, Greater Will, or Tarnished quite naturally and without explanation.
Your player character seems to be a Tarnished. However, the game does not really explain what that means. It also does not explain why you are a Tarnished. Therefore, we summarize what the community understands so far.
Who or what are the Tarnished in Elden Ring?
Tarnished are individuals in the world of Elden Ring who have lost the grace of the Erdtree.
This grace from the Erdtree is like a kind of blessing. Individuals who possess this grace have golden glowing eyes. However, certain individuals have lost this grace for various reasons, and with it their status in this originally almost paradisiacal world.
The individuals who have lost grace have not only lost the gold in their eyes. Without the grace from the Erdtree, these individuals are undead beings: “Dead, yet full of life,” as stated in the intro cutscene.
They were thus seen as monsters in the game world. They were despised, feared, hunted, and ultimately banished in the Lands Between.
Banish to an exile outside of the Lands Between, these individuals became known as the Tarnished. They apparently live there in some kind of mausoleum, lying close together. It is unclear whether they are ‘alive’ in this exile or merely vegetating.
In the game’s intro, some of these Tarnished are mentioned:
- Hoarah Loux, Ruler of the Wastes
- Goldmask
- Fia, Deathbed Companion
- Dung Eater
- Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing
- Your Player Character
All of you remain in exile, actually for all eternity. But then something happens with the Elden Ring that changes the plan.
Why are the Tarnished back in the Lands Between?
Anyone who loses the grace of the Erdtree also loses their reputation in the Lands Between and the right to stay there. This fate has befallen all the Tarnished.
The Erdtree has grown thanks to the Elden Ring. It is a magical manifestation of the incredible power of the Elden Ring. The golden leaves of the Erdtree gave people grace. Through the Erdtree, certain inhabitants of the Lands Between were also able to use the sacred summons that you also see in the game.
This incredible power of the Elden Ring has awakened indescribable greed, particularly among the children of Queen Marika the Eternal. Marika is a goddess and belongs to the Empyrean race.
One day, the Elden Ring shattered, and Queen Marika disappeared without a trace. Because of this shattering, the children of Marika, all demigods, went mad. They wanted the fragments and the power of the Elden Ring for themselves at any cost.
In this power vacuum, the children of the Queen instigated a brutal war among themselves, known as the Shattering. You can see the consequences of the Shattering most clearly in Caelid, the rotten region in the east of the Lands Between.
In the Shattering, some of the maddened demigods tore off one of the fragments of the Elden Ring. However, none of them became the new Elden Lord – the person who can wield the power of the Elden Ring and rule over the Lands Between. Thus, the war ended without a new lord, with the ring still in fragments.
As a consequence, the Erdtree also lost its power. In an act that may initially seem desperate, the Erdtree then returned the grace to the Tarnished, at least partially – including your player character.
Now that you have regained the lost grace, you are called upon to defeat the demigods, seize their fragments of the Elden Ring, and restore the Elden Ring. Thus, you are to become the new Elden Lord, reuniting the world and the ring.
This is, roughly speaking, the story behind the Tarnished, their unpopularity, and the reason for their return to the Lands Between.
Have you discovered any further details in the item descriptions that you would like to share with the community? And do you like the way Elden Ring tells its story? Let us know in the comments.
If you also need help with gameplay, we have here a growing overview of all guides, tips, and recommendations for Elden Ring from the MeinMMO editorial team:
Elden Ring: All our guides, beginner tips, and builds at a glance
