Remember the weird flying lion boss from Elden Ring's DLC trailer? It might just be some people in a costume
You know that joke that every man in a trench coat is two kids stacked on top of each other?
We’ve all now had a day and a bit to digest the first trailer for Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, but there’s still plenty of hardcore initial analysis going on in the FromSoft community. One of the most interesting things pointed out so far concerns one of its most memorable boss cameos, which looks like it could have something rather hilarious hiding within it.
In case you missed it, we now know that Shadow of the Erdtree will be arriving on June 21, 2024, giving folks a nice few months to prepare themselves and maybe spend an entire day repeatedly slaughtering Mohg. It also leaves plenty of time for people to try and figure out what we’re in for, or just how bizarre the backstories behind certain foes might be.
One of the Elden Ring loreheads who’s delved into the trailer to try and spot some interesting details is FromSoft YouTuber Zullie The Witch, with their video on the subject containing a couple of cool spots that you might not have seen yet. One of these concerns the flying boss that first pops up at around the one minute and 20 second mark of the trailer.
“The horns and lion-like face of this boss feel potentially related to Omens or Misbegotten,” Zullie writes, “but its anatomy is slightly suspect.” What do they mean by that? Well, “if you look closely at certain frames, it seems there are several bodies beneath its robes, with distinct visible arms and legs.”
Yes, it’s one of those FromSoft bosses. So, Zullie thinks there are two options that could explain why it’s got more feet than a football team - it could be a classic anatomical mess/mishmash, or “it could just be a group of people in a costume”.
As some folks have pointed out in the video’s comments, the boss’s design looks to have taken some cues from the dancing Lion and Dragon costumes used in traditional Chinese celebrations, such as Lunar New Year parades, which would make it at least resembling some folks in costume or a puppet make some kind of sense. Obviously, we won’t know for a while, but I really hope it does just turn out to be some small blokes armed with creativity and a flair for the dramatic.
Elsewhere in the video, Zullie also points out how some of the creatures in the trailer, such as the weird salamander thing biting someone’s head off, loosely resemble some unused models and concept art from Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. Oh, and they mention Marika’s curtains, because of course they do, pointing out that the sky surrounding the Erdtree resembles them.
If you're after some top Elden Ring tips to help you prep for Shadow of the Erdtree's arrival, make sure to check out our recent interview with some streamers who've beaten the game in unrthodox ways.