The last, but not least, character inclusion to my list of the “Most Tragic Elden Ring Characters”. So, were you able to guess who it was from my last article?
Lunar Princess Ranni, daughter of Queen Rennala of the Full Moon and the Academy of Raya Lucaria and Radagon, the Second Elden Lord. Her titles: Princess of the Carian Royal Family, an Emperyan, the Witch, the Lunar Princess, and the chosen successor to Queen Marika the Eternal.
Whew, that was a long list of titles. Not as much as Daenerys Targaryen’s list in Season 7, but still enough to make one winded when saying them.
Anyway, yes, Ranni the Witch is my final entry as one of the most tragic Elden Ring characters. She may seem like a cold, ruthless operator when we (the Tarnished) first meet her, but the more we learn about her backstory, the more realize she has been traumatized with the expectations and burdens of the Greater Will her whole life.
As I mentioned, Ranni is one of the three children Queen Rennala had with her beloved husband, Radagon of the Golden Order. Ranni, like her brothers Radhan and Rykard, took after her father in looks (as we can see from her body on top of the Divine Tower of Liurnia) as she inherited his tall stature and bright red hair.
As the youngest child of Rennala (I’m guessing as she seems the smallest of the three), Ranni developed a very close relationship with her mother.
While Radhan tried emulating his heroes, the First Elden Lord, Godfrey, and his father, Radagon, and her other brother Rykard did his best to become a giant serpent, Ranni took after her mother and studied magic at her mother’s academy under a woman named Renna the Snow Witch.
In time, Ranni became one of the greatest “Dark Moon” sorceresses in the Lands Between, even rivaling her own mother in terms of magically ability.
Moreover, Ranni’s childhood was defined by her inheritance: she was born an Empyrean. The Two Fingers, the Greater Will’s ambassadors in the Lands Between, anointed her as the eventual successor to Queen Marika as only an Empyrean can become king/queen of the Lands Between. Thus, in doing so, they also created a “shadow” (a guardian) for Ranni, the half-wolf Blaidd.
Over time, Blaidd, Ranni, and the blacksmith of the Carian Royal family, Iji, all became close friends (more like adoptive siblings) and spent their time playing and adventuring her family’s lands and holdings in Liurnia.
However, her peaceful childhood would come to an abrupt end when her father left her mother to marry Queen Marika after the Queen banished the First Elden Lord Godfrey. Once Radagon became the Second Elden Lord, Queen Marika immediately raised Ranni and her two brothers up to demi-god status, along with her own children (Godwyn the Golden, Miquella, Malenia, Morgott, and Mohg).
Now, being queen of the Lands Between may seem like a great job to have, yet nothing could have been further from the truth for Ranni. As queen, she was expected to give up her free will and become subservient to the whims and wishes of the Two Fingers and the Greater Will.
Plus, she would have had to most likely leave her family and close friends and reign from Erdtree in faraway Leyndell. That was something Ranni couldn’t stomach.
Thus, she hatched a plan to not only rid herself of the Greater Will’s control, but also forsake her inheritance/identify as an Empyrean. Now, Ranni the Witch may be one of the most tragic characters (and my favorite character), but I really cannot justify or defend the morals behind plan she devised as your about to see.
Her plan was to steal the Rune of Death, imbue its power into a handful of daggers, arm herself and a group highly trained assassins with said daggers, and have said assassins murder her stepbrother Godwyn the Golden.
Meanwhile, she was going to kill herself with one of the Death Rune-powered daggers at the exact moment of Godwyn’s murder, which would allow her soul to remain alive but kill her Empyrean flesh.
Needless to say, her plan worked without a hitch. The Black Knife Assassins successfully murdered Godwyn at the very moment Ranni killed herself, thus destroying her Empyrean identity and removing herself from the influence of the Greater Will.
However, this cold-blooded assassination of her first-born son would drive Queen Marika mad with grief as she would go on to destroy the Elden Ring in response, thus causing the Shattering War to begin.
So, in other words, Ranni is responsible for the Shattering War, the deaths of thousands, and the events of Elden Ring. Okay, she may not be the most likeable character, but that doesn’t make her any less tragic. “How?” you may be wondering. “She just seems like a spoiled brat to me.” Well, all I have to say to that is: read on and you may have a change of heart.
(Bandai Namco/FromSoftware-Elden Ring-Story Trailer)
After assassinating Godwyn the Golden, Ranni sits out of the Shattering war by going into exile to hid from the Two Fingers and the Greater Will wrath. Obviously, the gods of the Lands Between were none-to-pleased about losing their prized “pupil” (so to speak), or what she did, so they sent the very same assassins that Ranni used to kill Godwyn after her.
And that is where the Tarnished comes into Ranni’s life (and where Elden Ring begins). After getting Torrent from Melina, the Tarnished is visited by Ranni the Witch posing as her long-dead master, Renna the Snow Witch. Ranni gives the Tarnished the spirt bell, which allows them to use spirits to aid them while in combat. There really isn’t any other significance behind this meeting other than this is our first time seeing Ranni.
A while after that, if the Tarnished is able to survive getting through Carian Manor (which I still don’t know how I did), they can run across Ranni again in her tower behind the manor. She will be pleasantly surprised to see us again and offers for us to be a part of her retinue.
When the Tarnished accepts, that is when she sends us to find her loyal friend, Blaidd, in the lost city of Nokron and starts us down the path of the most rewarding questline of the entire game (in my opinion).
I won’t spoil the entire questline here (as I kind of already did that in the Blaidd entry) as that would take too long and would be a repetitive read. Nonetheless, Ranni’s questline essentially revolves around her using the Tarnished and Blaidd to find the Fingerslayer Blade, a weapon that can kill the Two Fingers, and, at last, remove the influence the Two Fingers’ have had on her life and those she loves.
The tragic aspect to all of this is that once Ranni gets the blade, she has to face the Two Fingers alone. Bringing along Blaidd or Iji would only endanger them to the many dangers the Greater Will possesses.
Ranni may be a murderer, but she really did love her “adoptive” brothers. So much so that she refuses their help on a would-be-suicide-mission. That in itself is a rarity in Elden Ring. How many people in the Lands Between are selfless enough to face an extremely deadly enemy alone, when they have a better chance of defeating them with help, because it is too much of a risk to their friend’s lives.
(Bandai Namco/FromSoftware-Elden Ring-Lunar Princess Ranni)
That kind of selflessness is found in very few in this game.
Anyway, like I said, Ranni knows this journey will more than likely take what remains of her life as she is but a spirt now. Nonetheless, when the Tarnished returns with the Fingerslayer Blade, she wishes the Tarnished goodbye and tells them to tell Blaidd and Iji that she loves them.
Unbeknownst to her, the Two Fingers have already found Ranni and her hideout. The Black Knife assassins brutally murder Iji, while The Two Fingers drive Blaidd insane. As I said in the Blaiid entry, his “programming” is started by the Two Fingers and it causes him to turn on everyone he cared about, including Ranni and the Tarnished.
Thus, despite all of Ranni’s attempts to keep her adoptive family from harm fail as the Two Fingers murder them anyway.
Ranni’s story can end one of two ways: A) The Tarnished can leave her to face the Two Fingers and their assassins alone, where she most likely dies; or B) The Tarnished follows Ranni, slays the Two Fingers assassins, and allows her to kill the Two Fingers. I hope everyone choose option B. I most certainly did.
Even though Ranni slays the Two Fingers, they still are able to deal quite a bit of damage to her that nearly kills her. The Tarnished is able to revive Ranni by placing the Dark Moon Ring on her finger, essentially becoming her consort (yeah, I don’t really how that works either).
Anyway, Ranni happily accepts you as her consort and reveals her grand plan: she wishes to reshape the world, ending the reign of the Greater Will and usher in a new Age (the Age of Star). She wishes the Tarnished luck on their journey to find the rest of the shards of the Elden Ring and vows to meet them again once the final battle is over.
Once the Tarnished collects the shards and defeats the shard bearers, Radagon and the Elden Beast, Ranni reappears in the Erdtree Throne room to finally destroy the Greater Will’s Golden Order and start her own Age of the Stars/Dark Moon Order.
The game and Ranni’s story ends with her outreaching one of her four hands to the Tarnished and taking them with her into the Age of Star universe/order/I really don’t know where they go. I just know that they leave the Lands Between to start a new Age for the universe.
(Bandai Namco/FromSoftware-Elden Ring-Lunar Princess Ranni)
Whew, that was a long analysis. But I think it might very well be the best one.
Ranni the Witch sacrificed everything, some willing (her Empyrean inheritance, demi-god status and privileges) and some unwilling (Blaiid, Iji, her family), in order to free the world and herself from the oppressive rule of the Greater Will and the Golden Order. That level of sacrifice really does make Ranni one of the best tragic characters.
Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed my analysis and breakdowns of each character. Let me know in the comments section if you agree, disagree, or have something else to point out about Ranni, Blaidd, Godwyn the Golden, Radhan, Malenia, or any other Elden Ring character. In the meantime, I’ll think of a new list to do.
By the way if you wish to read more about Blaidd, Lunar Princess Rani, Iji the Blacksmith, The Two Fingers, The Greater Will, Queen Marika, the Carian Royal Family, 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 Sources: Featured Image: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (Elden Ring)
In Text Image 1: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (ELDEN RING – Story Trailer – YouTube)
In Text Image 2: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (ELDEN RING – Story Trailer – YouTube)
In Text Image 3: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (Elden Ring)
In Text Image 4: (Bandai Namco/FromSoftware) (Elden Ring)
