Elden Ring Theory Claims Status Effect Icons Reference Cut Story Content

gamerant.com:

An interesting theory posits that two of Elden Ring's status effect icons are referencing cut content removed by From Software. The world of Elden Ring is huge and the amount of lore to be found within is difficult to quantify. Players are encouraged to theorize about aspects of Elden Ring's lore that aren't materially present within the game. It's further complicated by the amount of content FromSoftware removes from its games, including Elden Ring. But that's part of what makes theorizing so fun for the Elden Ring community.

Elden Ring players are likely already familiar with the true nature of the game's merchants. Zooming in on a merchant's face reveals that their eyes are aflame with Frenzy, a trait of the followers of the Frenzied Flame. This occurred due to a genocide of the merchants, buried alive due to their «heretical beliefs,» and their subsequent summoning of the Three Fingers through a curse of despair. This is all confirmed via in-game descriptions and other content, but there's more to the merchants that was cut by From Software.

The Cheapest Elden Ring Has Ever Been on Steam

An Elden Ring player on Reddit drew a connection between the status effect icons for Madness and Sleep. Madness in Elden Ring is described as a contagious mental illness hailing from the Three Fingers and the Flame of Frenzy. Sleep is described as tranquilizing agents hailing from St. Trina and its lilies. The Redditor noticed that the eyes shown in Madness and Sleep's icons look like they're from the same person, and that very well may be.

One of Elden Ring's most well-recorded pieces of cut content revolves around the merchant Kalé, one of the first NPCs players meet in The Lands Between. In this quest, it's told that the merchants