Lost alternate Benjamin ending (spoilers)

MMOexp: Elden Ring's Ranni the Witch vs. Berserk's Schierke

In the event that Blaidd is Guts as he wears his Berserker Armor Then I'd say that would make Elden Ring fan favorite Ranni the Witch akin to Berserk's Schierke? Although it's a bit of an oversimplification, considering that Ranni is one of the more Elden Ring Runes powerful people in the Lands Between and Schierke is a young witch-in-training, I would say it's plausible if you factor in their different relationship with men who resemble wolves.

I'm not Vaati, but it's apparent that Ranni and Blaidd have a close connection. Blaidd, as far as I've gathered was specifically created to guide Ranni towards her purpose as a potential godlike figure by an unseen, supernatural force known as The Greater Will. However, as Ranni abandons this path, Blaidd grows increasingly feral until he loses his humanity in the course of the story.

Schierke, on the other on the other hand, is one of Guts his companions following the annihilation of the Band of the Hawk. She soon emerges as the only one to help him manage his instinctual urges being influenced by the Berserker Armor. As such, Schierke and Guts are able to be inseparable in battle, with the young witch regularly projecting her spirit into his consciousness to ease his anxiety and prevent him from succumbing to the armor completely.

Elden Ring introduces an area around its mid-game known as Caelid. In contrast to previous regions, Caelid is a squalid area that is disgusting, consequence of Malenia The Severed harnessing her potential of The toxic Scarlet Rot to curse her half-brother Starscrouge Radahn in the all-encompassing war which followed the Shattering of the Elden Ring. You're welcome to ignore the fact that none of this seems to make sense to you because I'm barely capable of understanding the Elden Ring's history after an entire month of playing it.

It is important to note the way Caelid resembles the scene of the Eclipse the phenomenon occurs in Berserk when there is a rare induction the new member of the God Hand, a group of god-like demons. Guts together with Band of the Hawk are attracted to this ritual by their presumed leader and friend Griffith who would like to join the God Hand to fulfill an ardent desire to become ruler of his own, global kingdom.

What the Eclipse accomplishes is to provide a gateway to another dimension and the God Hand receives the inductee's sacrifices (in Griffith's instance the sacrifice of the sacrifices of his Band of the Hawk soldiers) and transforms them into a demon entity. If you are unfortunate enough to be transported to this realm will be welcomed into a huge, bloody expanse inhabited by hellish creatures that is what I'd call the Elden Ring players in Caelid.

Elden Ring Helmets vs. Berserk Helmets

I'm going to combine two things in this article as I'm not able to justify making separate entries for both.Before the Eclipse accepts him into the God Hand the man once known as Griffith endures an entire an unending year of torture having a romantic relationship with the princess of an important kingdom. His tongue is severed and his skin is swollen, and all the while he's forced to wear a mask made of iron. After being saved by Guts and the fellow members from the Band of the Hawk, Griffith gradually recovers, but the mask is left to hide the scars left by his brutal encounter.

Elden Ring players have drawn parallels between Griffith's iron mask and the one of the Prisoner class players can choose from the start in the course. This isn't a 1:1 comparison though, however the eye-cover on the Prisoner's headwear neatly coincides with the fact that Berserk rarely shows a front-facing Griffith in his mask. He prefers to depict the tortured mercenary with only one eye hidden by the mask's shadow.

Furthermore, the Winged Helm worn by Elden Ring boss Malenia and eventually obtainable by players can easily be seen as an homage to a similar piece of armor Berserk antagonist-turned-ally Farnese wears during her time commanding the Holy Iron Chain Knights. Yes, this can be dismissed as both being inspired by the medieval portrayals of Valkyries but I prefer to think of them as closely connected as this is more entertaining.

Elden Ring's Greatsword vs. Berserk's Dragon Slayer

Finally, my most favorite Berserk reference in Elden Ring apart from the sword fields. Elden Ring, like previous Souls games, hides the world's building in item descriptions. It's usually the best way to understand why someone did something important or who's connected to whom It stands to be logical that homages to Berserk might be hiding away in the text for the flavor as well.

It's a lot like the comments made about Guts' Dragon Slayer in Berserk which, in the very first section of the comic is described as the "raw pile of iron" which is "much too large to be considered an actual sword." The characters are frequently blown away that Guts can hold such a weapon due its enormous size, but due to his incredible ability, he's been able to utilize it to cheap Elden Ring Items slash through anything that stands in his way. The two weapons are like each other, but that could be due to the fact that they're both massive swords.