Most Tragic Elden Ring Characters: Part 4

In the penultimate article, I enter the fourth character to the “Most Tragic Elden Ring Characters” list. And, let me tell you, this was my hardest choice.

I had a really tough time deciding between including either Queen Marika or Blaidd. But, in the end, I went with everyone’s favorite half-wolf traveling companion.

Yet even though I had a difficult time putting Blaidd on the list, that doesn’t mean his inclusion is any less worthy. In fact, some may even think that he is the most tragic character out of all of my choices so far.

Blaidd was created by the Two Fingers (the representation of the Greater Will in the Lands Between) as a companion and guardian for Lunar Princess Ranni. Due to Ranni’s status as an Empyrean, the Greater Will had planned for the Lunar Princess to eventually succeeded Queen Marika as the Queen of the Lands Between.

Thus, Blaidd is inherently loyal to Ranni, incapable of committing treachery or deceit to his princess.

Blaidd truly comes into his own during the events of the story of Elden Ring. We, as the Tarnished, first come across Blaidd lurking around the Mistwood Ruins. We learn that he is in search of the rogue bloodhound knight, Darriwil, and asks for the Tarnished’s help to slay the traitor.

I’m assuming that Darriwil must have betrayed Ranni at some point, which is why Blaidd hates him so much. Or Blaidd just really doesn’t like him.

However, that was never confirmed. Anyway, once you defeat and kill Darriwil, Blaidd tells the Tarnished of his friend’s, the blacksmith Iji, location and that the smith will now help the Tarnished if they need it. Much later on (aka: 500 deaths later), the Tarnished runs across Blaidd again. They meet after the Tarnished pledges their service to Ranni, to which she then sends the pair off to find the lost city of Nokron and the ancient weapon hidden inside.

After a while of exploring, fighting the creatures of Nokron, and discovering all sorts of new magical items, both the Tarnished and Blaidd are unable to find a way into the city. However, they do learn that the only way Ranni can free herself from the fate the Greater Will has placed on her is by releasing the stars from General Radhan’s control, which should also open a path into Nokron.

(Yes, this is one massive fetch quest; just, bear with me, Blaidd’s story gets a lot more tragic from here.)

The Tarnished and Blaidd travel separately to the Caelid wastelands, where the mad General Radhan (Ranni’s brother, funnily enough) slowly rots away. Prior to going to battle against the fallen demi-god, Blaidd whishes the Tarnished luck and pleads with them not to rush into battle recklessly.

In fact, he says, ” Let’s give them a show to remember, eh. Just don’t you go dying on me. For Ranni’s sake, too.”

This may be a small point, but I found it very endearing for another character to actually care about your (the Tarnished’s) wellbeing. Blaidd really doesn’t have to look out for the Tarnished as much as he does, which is why I always found him as one of the most kind-hearted characters in the game and lore.

Nevertheless, Blaidd helps the Tarnished put General Radhan out of his misery and frees the stars in doing so.

Out of respect for Radhan (which I’m assuming he knows is Ranni’s brother), Blaidd gives a brief homage to the fallen general, which was another touching moment I was not expecting from this game.

Blaidd’s kindness and loyalty is a refreshing comfort in a world filled with malice and deceit.

Nonetheless, as the stars began falling back into place, one falls from the sky into the ground below and opens the path to Nokron. Blaidd tells the Tarnished that he will meet them at the remains of the star and finally claim the secret weapon for Ranni. However, this is Elden Ring, and nothing ever goes smoothly in this world. Blaidd is intercepted and then imprisoned by his friend, Iji, before Blaidd can meet up with the Tarnished.

The Tarnished, who knows nothing about what has transpired, continues into the open crater alone and retrieves the ancient weapon, the Fingerslayer Blade, that Ranni needed. As the Tarnished is heading back to Ranni’s tower, they encounter Blaidd in his jail. After hearing about what Iji has done, the Tarnished frees Blaidd and the pair go off to confront Iji separately.

(PS: I don’t know how FromSoftware would have thought that the player would have checked the Blaidd’s Evergoal to see where he went without looking it up; I certainty wasn’t able too!)

As the Tarnished arrives at Ranni’s Tower (after Blaidd), they go to confront Iji but the blacksmith explains himself before they come to blows. He informs the Tarnished that because Blaidd was created by the Two Fingers, he will always be their “slave” and do their bidding. If Ranni was to go against the Two Finger (which she most defiantly is), Blaidd was designed to turn mad and kill Ranni in response. And the more Blaidd tried to fight back against his “programming”, the madder and more violent he would become.

That was why he imprisoned Blaidd. He wanted to keep both Ranni and the half-wolf safe (which we, brilliantly, messed up).

How unfortunate and tragic is that? The kindest and loyalist character in all of Elden Ring was destined to wind up a violent, stark raving mad monster designed to brutally murder the one person he cared the most about. And he couldn’t even do anything about it. That’s a next level of tragic.

We, the Tarnished, can try to save Blaidd from this fate, but it is already too late. The half-wolf already turned feral and mad by the time we reach Ranni’s Tower, and we are forced to put him out of his misery before hunts down and kills Ranni.

What a tragic end to such a heroic character. I’m sensing a trend with FromSoftware that they enjoy giving their most heroic characters the worst, most tragic fates (ex: General Radhan, Godwyn the Golden, Malenia, the Blade of Miquella, and now Blaidd).

With four of the five characters listed, I hope you all may have been able to figure out who is coming next. If you need a hint: all four characters I have listed so far have a connection to the character who will round out the list.

Okay, I’ll leave the rest of the guessing up to you.

By the way, if you wish to read more about Blaidd, Lunar Princess Rani, Iji the Blacksmith, The Two Fingers, The Greater Will, or the Fingerslayer Blade, I highly recommend you check out the Elden Ring Fandom Wiki page. It helped me find all the information about Godwyn that I could not find in-game. It truly is a great source!

Images Source: Featured Image: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (Elden Ring)

In Text Image 1: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (Elden Ring)

In Text Image 2: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (Elden Ring)

Other Sources: (Elden Ring Wiki) (Blaidd | Elden Ring Wiki (fextralife.com))