BBoy4040: Weird how I never felt the Elden Beast WASN'T sentient
funx24X7: This makes me appreciate the end boss fakeout even more. Is the last enemy a dude? No, it is an alien wielding
Ghouleh3133: "I swear, if we get to the final boss and it's another Ulcerated Tree Spirit..."
~A very unfortunate man
kidkonundrum4592: The Greater Will is often nearly described as more of a force than an actual being, but seeing as how the Elden Ring itself had its form with the Elden Beast, it makes me wonder what kinda cosmic horror the Greater Will actually is...
rayzu4380: I didn't notice that the Elden Beast actually has a scar. Now that I think about it, I think that when you stagger her, the scar glows a little?
augustday9483: I love the Elden Beast's design.
I want to pet the space dragon-slug.
GojiGuy01: An interesting thing about Elden beast to me is, right after the cutscene where it appears, the first thing it does is seemingly bow, even holding its left hand up where a person would over their heart! And right after, it uses its extremely powerful gold fire breath, almost as if it means to say "Tarnished who's beaten even Radagon, it was a pleasure to meet you, now die" lol
pontiffsulyvahn7442: Idk but the chunky glass breaking sound design her glowing from every hit is the best part of her fight
kimlee6643: I don't think it's just that EB is more "properly" formed, but rather that the other forms are illegitimate, non-sanctioned by higher law in some way. "Naturalborn" is another term for bastard, and the weapon we can get from Astel is also called "Bastard's Stars". Another reference within that weapon's description is to "debris", which indicates these other beasts might be formed of some fundamentally similar property, plus space and/or earthly gunk. This makes it sound like there's an archetypal seed, a substance, which in the EB is pure born and orthodox, but bastardy, impure and heterodox for all the others.
Golem29: The sounds are legitimately an amazing observation. This is why Zullie is so good
gravenightghoul: I love the fact they used "star sounds" for Elden Beast's idle even tho there's no way players would have noticed it. It really does feel like everyone on the team at FROMSOFT goes above and beyond just to tell little bits of story whenever possible.
itsmeike: It's a shame it isn't the most fun fight, because the design is sick. I love space
Liam-pi9vi: Man the visuals for the arena and the lore implications just makes the universe of Elden Ring so vast and it makes me want to know more about the Greater Will and the cosmos at large, and if those Erdtrees we see in the arena are other worlds it has influenced.
disclaimin: The Elden Beast also bears some striking similarities to the Night Walker, the nocturnal form of the Spirit of the Forest from Princess Mononoke. I feel it's similar in nature as well, granting intelligence and speech to beasts, while being a force of nature itself.
drdecomposing: Hear me out: Elden Beast starred as the main character of Disney's 1997 hit film "Flubber".
timsonnenberg6977: Something very interesting is the start of the fight with it, I think. It always starts the same way, with the beast almost formally greeting you. Holding it's arm in a manner similar to the reverential bow. To me, it seems like it actually knows what your arrival and defeat of Radagon actually imply.
thecommentguy9380: The aquatic structure of the Elden Beast is quite beautiful in a sense, as it implies that these creatures are meant to swim in the vast ocean of the void between the stars to find its home in a world capable of sustaining life. And with the Elden Beast, we have more context with the Astels, or malformed stars, as it implies these creatures perhaps were warped or twisted in some capacity during their evolution, perhaps they landed far too son and were malformed by the very crust of the world they landed on unlike the Elden Beast that was fully grown by the time it landed on the Lands Between.
Squirrely.: How have I never realized the Elden Beast's sword is just straight up radagon. That's crazy and horrifying.
PankoBreadcrumbs: "What IS the Elden Beast?"

My boyfriend, next question.
parkeshark: I love Elden Beast's design. The use of 'eldritch' (as in, unknowable or foreign to humans) without the 'horror' it's usually paired with means it provokes a different reaction than, say, Amygdala. The noises that sound like cracking glass when idle or when being hit adds to that feeling that this thing is beautiful but ultimately beyond human comprehension. I hope FromSoft leans into this aesthetic more in future titles.

As a lore aside: I wonder if everyone who seeks to claim the Elden Ring has to fight an Elden Beast, or whether it specifically opposes us. Is there just one, or did Marika fight a different Elden Beast to take the throne?
PlatinumAltaria: The Elden Beast was the golden star sent to the Lands Between by the Greater Will. It looks like a dragon because the dragons were the first inheritors of the Elden Ring, in the age before the Erdtree.
RubenGarcia-pt8tp: I also feel like the elden beast has something primordial about it. It’s design reminds me of ancient creatures from the Cambrian era, it’s face particularly reminds me of Tully’s monster
nickcageisbestspider-man: Elden Beast, despite its flaws, has become one of my favorite bosses in all of the souls games because it really puts into perspective the scope of the Greater Will's incomprehensible power and how even a mighty God like Marika/Radagon is merely a tool of their greater influence.
LeMann777-vl7qd: Its that darn space slug again!
moka8601: The remembrance description stating that it was sent by the great will and that killing it gives "god Slain" instead of "Demigod Defeated" always made me think that it is the physical embodiment of the greater will, and by killing it you severed it's ties to the lands between
lordsmorgasbord2646: I love how elden ring depicts cosmic beings. they're not incomprehensible nightmares like is often portrayed. they're awe-inspiring and beautiful
thephrontist93: When Zullie drops a video, I drop everything and pay attention. Class is in session!
riskybiscuits688: I always call him Nessie Jesus. This is CANON
IroncladQuzar: "The only good xeno..."
Pumps THE Greatsword
quillcannon: About beasts being given five fingers as an accompaniment to sentient intelligence: Astel has five fingers and a thumb, for a total of six digits, in each hand. I understand this is just to add to its creepiness, but maybe something's worth exploring here. Namely, what if Astel is a "failed vassal" of some outer god? Or an attempt by Renna/Ranni to have their own smart beast to rival the Golden Order's. Astel looks creepy but it behaves in a manner I would call intelligent, especially in how it employs tactics and trickery. By contrast, fallingstar beasts behave no more intelligently than a, well, bull.
karlaeickhoff3594: Another point of evidence for the connection to Astel creatures is the few similar moves they share, like the one where they "toss" out a bunch of sparks that then explode.
zergray6851: Also, since you didnt point this out in connection to the Malformed Stars:

Elden Beast's delayed explosion & big golden AoE attacks use slight variants of Astel's delayed explosion & Teleport AoE visual effects. This further cements the connection between them and the idea that the Elden Beast is a "Fully formed" Star.
Bones_: Elden Beast is everything I wanted Moon Presence to be. A final ultimate cosmic boss but with actually enough health to let me enjoy and appreciate it. I know some don't enjoy the fight but I actually thinks it's a great fight minus Elden Stars which is the one attack that there seems to be just no consistent way to completely avoid. The other thing that relates to Elden Beast and it's potential for intelligence is how much autonomy it may NEED to have, because when you go back to the Two Fingers after being blocked from entering the Erdtree by the thorns, Enya tells you that the Two Fingers need to consult the Greater Will and that this will take so long she thinks you'll be long gone by the time they hear back. This implies the Greater Will is extremely far away in space and whatever method of direct communication isn't terribly fast or efficient for our sense of time. This also seemingly confirms that Elden Beast is not in communication with the Two Fingers and perhaps is even/has become disconnected from the Greater Will itself. This leads me to believe that Elden Beast is more of an envoy of the Greater Will, able to act on it's own according to what it believes is right in the name of the Greater Will. We see the final arena with all the ethereal Erdtrees but even though this may symbolize all the other ones that potentially exist nearby in the universe I think it just goes to the scale of the Greater Will's influence in the universe and if anything these are likely closer to us spatially than the Greater Will.
s.i9050: The Elden Beast is the most beautiful, otherworldly being in video games history — in my opinion. The fact that its veins are starry gold reminds me of Laniakea Supercluster, and because this being is sent by the Greater Will, it's CLEARLY an alien. The Lands Between are just its host, and so are the planet, by extension. On the backgrounds when we fought it, there's lots of golden pillars.. probably thousands of Erdtrees in many planets.
OllyDee123: I've always taken the Elden Beast to represent a fantasy, god-like version of "The Great Attractor", which is the central point of the supercluster as you say. This could mean the the Great Attractor is a living being, weaving together the cosmos and seeding the worlds within with it's own golden lifeforce. Possibly subjugating them? This is represented by the trees in the arena, a glimpse of these other worlds, or at least their connections within the supercluster. This is also why Rani moves the world through her portal, to escape the supercluster completely. Or not. Who knows?
Ahrpigi: Plus, any mention of beasts and cosmic beings is a nice bonus Bloodborne reference, even if it's not explicit or intentional.
MotionlessParadox: History Channel's 'The Universe' did a episode about Neutron Stars and how some of them make a consistent rythem beat in radio recordings. Your 'sounds of space' segment reminded of that cool episode
DemonFireRain: never have I ever wanted more badly to just be able to talk to bosses in a game so intently designed to not allow it.
XogoWasTaken: One really interesting detail that I feel is commonly missed is that there's a direct connection between the move sets of the Elden Beast and Placidusax. In Placi's big showstopper nuke move, they stab their spear into the ground and the music stops until it detonates with a distinct, high pitched whine. This is one of two attacks that pause the game's music. The other is an attack where the Elden Beast stabs it's sword into the ground, momentarily stopping the music, and then causes a detonation with a similar, high pitched sound effect. It's the exact same move, but Elden Beast does it much faster and with a smaller explosion.
stanisrafu5819: Some people don't believe that Elden Beast is Elden Ring itself, but even damage sounds of Elden Beast - are cracks of runes, like breaking glass, the same sound we hear when we crack Runes we can collect in the world to earn Runes. There is a theory that Elden Beast lives inside of Elden Ring and Elden Ring is actualy those Golden Trees we see during fight, just in different perspective.
FencingViolinNerd: Babe wake up! A Zullie video just dropped.
ARSD219: So, this “Elden Beast” is basically a Great One.

Miyazaki and FromSoftware are no strangers to putting Lovecraftian and cosmic horror elements in their games - we’ve seen this with not only Bloodborne, but also Demon’s Souls, and perhaps even the Dark Souls trilogy with its “Age of the Deep.”
VaultTecCitizens: If you watch the Elden Beast cinematic intro with the music off, you will hear it emit sound when it glows right before the fight begins. I always thought the sound was it trying to say something to our character that was incredibly beyond our grasp.
Kastafore: Until your section detailing the audio of its idle animation, I'd never noticed that the Elden Beast is heaving exasperatedly during.
seaslux: In my opinion, Elden Beast's translucent body with its gold, branching nervous system bears a resemblance to Melibe Leonina; aka the lion's mane nudibranch. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a partial source of inspiration for Elden Beast's design.
abandonator: the Elden beast also gives off some Hallucigenia vibes to me. with its appendages on it's back. that or maybe a nudibranch, being sea slug like.
corneliusc.carrot3474: The Twilight Princess music is quite fitting!
maverick5474: Zullie you are just wonderful! Love your videos SO much!
nicolasgoulet4091: Nice thougt provoking video! Your hardwork is appreciated.
ceilingfanenthusiast6041: I love Elden Beast so much. It's one of my favourite bosses in FromSoft because of it's atmosphere, music and design. I've been thinking of learning UprisingGrand's piano arrangement of its theme for months.

Maybe I just got lucky and didnt get spammed with annoying attacks or didnt have it excessively running away, but Elden Beast was a beautiful fight for me.

Jun 10 2024

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