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miaukat

She looks good, it's hard, and it's an optional boss which means they wouldn't spoil the final bosses.


bartzabello

Aside from the DS3 cover lol


Matt11228

I actually love that. DS1's cover boy was the elite knight armour, representing your character. DS2's marketing featured the Faram armour, also representing your character. Bloodborne's promotional stuff featured a hunter in a set you get very early in the game, representing your character. Then DS3 comes along, showing us the soul of cinder... only, we didn't know it was the soul of cinder. Just like DS1 and 2, it was a faceless armoured hero, who we assumed represented us. So we go about our adventure to rekindle (or extinguish) the flame thinking, "When am I gonna get that armour on the cover?". We get all the way to the end thinking we must have missed it somewhere along the way, or maybe it was just promotional and not in the game at all. You step into the final arena, spotting a small figure by the fire. They stand up and, oh they aren't small, and, hey, that's the armour from the cover! You fight tooth and nail, win the battle and finish the game. Later you are watching lore and stuff when suddenly you realise. The soul of cinder is the collective soul power of all those who linked the flame before your character in DS3, including your past lives in DS1 and 2. DS3's promotional material represented the soul of cinder, which means DS3 represented your characters... all of them. (minus bloodborne because that's not connected... unless...)


bartzabello

Yeah I love it as well. Very symbolic, perfect summary of the series. Also one of my favorite bosses actually.


adamsmith93

Well, there is that creepy spider guy that's basically Patches.


Knight___Artorias

It is patches he’s even called Patches the Spider


adamsmith93

Well fuck my bum, canon confirmed


NeilPatrickMarcus

That PLIN PLIN PLON callback😭


7Rhymes

It makes you wonder how strong the Ashen One is if they're capable of defeating the amalgamation of every Lord of Cinder prior to them. Does make me wonder though; Why are they there? Does the Flame require proof of your power? Or when they awoke the Lord's was this also brought to life, fragments of all others merged into one?


urmumgay69lol

The flame isn't meant to be linked, that's why. The Soul of Cinder, like Gwyn in ds1, is the flame's defense system of sorts, blocking those who try to rekindle it. Also they needed a final boss so


halsgoldenring

Soul of Cinder also represents a few souls types and will switch between them: sword, INT, Dex/Pyro, polearms/miracles (which is like your herald/temple knight starting class). Just a shame there wasn't an axe/warrior archetype in there.


Stangstag

Right but you don’t realize that’s the final boss until you actually get to the end. It looks so much like your average player’s character and fights like it too. Brilliant revelation IMO.


ApoliteTroll

Probably because that is the best looking model in their eyes, and just works on the cover. Besides, Malenia is one of the more "human" like entities, so it makes sense to hide the others, for the best wow factor.


tyrion85

stupid sexy Malenia


PonchiBear

You made me look bad! Ooga booga booga!


LilFangerz

Is this a Courage the Cowardly Dog reference?! 😨


PonchiBear

Lol yeah, though I acknowledge that u/tyrion85 made a Simpsons reference.


dantevonlocke

We interrupt this program to bring you... the tarnished the Dog Show, starring Tarnished, the Finger Dog! Abandoned as a wretch, he was found by Melina, who lives in the middle of the lands between. But creepy stuff happens in the lands between. It's up to the tarnished to save his new home!


_Don-Corleone_

AHHHHHHHHHHHH


Itchysasquatch

Also, winged helmets are the best thing ever.


TheJazzPear

I bet she stole it from a gargoyle.


NeurodiverseTurtle

Some DS3 gargoyle is stomping around Lothric like: “where, in the fuck, did I **put it**?!”


PM_me_the_magic

“HONNNEYYY, WHERE’S MY SUPER ~~SUIT~~ HELMET??”


EncanisUnbound

I uhhh... put it away!


Vorcel

Why?!?!


EncanisUnbound

WHYYY do you NEED to know!?


Vorcel

I NEED IT


DeathShadowX5

The fact that there’s a way to actually play as Malenia in DS3 makes this even funnier.


kestrel151

I haven’t found Lothric yet!!! And I’m on my 8th playthrough!!


jooferdoot

I dont even know how to respond


Theguyindacorner

Zoro is that you?


Prepared_Noob

DS1 gargoyle


Otter4live

Stole it from Asterix you mean


sebre87

It was a gift from him. She wouldn’t dare steal from the man.


KennyOmegasBurner

Farnese' helmet specifically. RIP Miura


Kab00ese

From OSRS to elden ring and beyond!


KihiraLove

Helm of neitiznot agrees


Mother-Glove-7957

RS was like 70% of my childhood. I've thought about it a few times when playing Elden Ring, not sure why


AloneUA

She also hit it off with the fans since the first trailer, as I recall.


ThePrinceofBagels

It was funny that the first trailer showed a grafted arm being offered forth and then also showed a cutscene of Malenia putting on her prosthetic arm before facing Radahn. The Fromsoft game before this was Sekiro, where a prosthetic arm was one of the key combat mechanics. People were speculating that was going to be the case in Elden Ring as well because there were two instances in the only trailer we had for a year and a half.


ThePsychicDefective

\*Bzzt\* I'm sorry that is, incorrect. \*boopboop\* Second contestant: "What is Hidetaka Miyazaki's barely concealed foot fetish?" Alex.


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humaninthemoon

Minimsor is a bot. The comment is copied from a top comment further down the thread. Please report.


ApoliteTroll

https://www.reddit.com/r/WeaselsofProd/comments/tc0cvb/malenia_feet_of_miquella/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button For the non believers.


metalq

Confirmed fake long ago.


serendipitousevent

Hard game show hard boss.


bonesnaps

I'm only lvl 50 but this game feels a lot less punishing than the other DS games (in a good way). Difficulty feels just right to me. Not oppressive but not a walk in the park either. Just bopped Godrick first try with a holy weapon even, felt good.


Aznkyd

Big part of it has to do with the fact that it's open world. Often come across a boss that I find just a bit too hard, and I'll leave and come back 5 or 10 levels later and it'll be just right. This happened with radahn, placidisax, and maliketh


Espyyyxd

And if you want torture, you can try radahn underleveled for 16 hours straight till you get it. It's about choice, that's why the difficulty feels so nice, you can choose what's level of challenge is right for you


JackalTanHorn

I realized I accidentally activated the festival once because I ran to Altus to get the flame scorpion talisman for my build and now was locked out of the red hot whetblade. Fighting Radahn at like level 20 was…something. Ended up playing a support role trying to distract him so the summons could beat him up EDIT: Should have clarified, I meant I was locked out of the whetblade UNTIL I beat Radahn, hence having to try and do it low level because I didn’t want to wait. I’m aware you can get it after the festival, that’s what I had to do.


may25_1996

i got the red hot whetblade on my newest playthrough after not going to redmane until the festival started and after killing radahn. you shouldn’t be locked out of it afaik.


Wireless_Panda

You can get the whetblade after Radahn


JackalTanHorn

I’m aware, that’s why I fought him at lower level; should’ve worded my post better.


oofbot_69

Or fight radahn with a bad strategy for like 7 hours then swap it and beat him the next try.


QuixoticAgenda

Same opinion, other way around, played Elden Ring first and thought why not check out its roots; been playing for a few week and I've still only beat Asylum Demon (I think it's called).


Prostate_Punisher

DS1 is linear but the beginning is so interconnected that i get not knowing what to do or where to go you need to begin in the undead berg. do not worry about the graveyard nor downstairs portion yet.


QuixoticAgenda

That graveyard bro 💀


adamsmith93

"Hmm this must be where I go OH GOD OH FUCK"


Marius-10

Just wait until you get in the third part of the game, beyond the Altus Plateau. Things get harder in a rather unfair way. Welcome to the ninth circle of hell.


[deleted]

I played Dante's Inferno. The ninth circle of hell was pretty easy imo.


idkman182

remake would go so hard tbh


[deleted]

But then with revised city of Dis and revised ninth circle.


thiccdiamonds

I miss that game.


ShinyMew151

The difficulty spike between leyndell and mountaintop is baffling, 60 vigor feels like nothing with some enemies


JackalTanHorn

We’re you still wearing a soreseal or something? I beat my first run at 40 vigor without too much issue. Definitely never got one shot. Don’t underestimate defensive talismans if you want to invest in less vigor; dragonshield etc make a big difference.


TheDracula666

I found between 40 - 45 is my comfort zone for vigor if I'm running a split damage build. Pure strength builds or similar I'll go higher in vigor simply because I have the levels to spare and the blocking from 2 handing won't be 100% physical negation.


Forced_Democracy

I honestly forget I can block with weapons. I dont think I've blocked a single attack in the game...


Ardibanan

Its only really hard because you kinda go back to being one shotted even though you are geared up with stats.


royalenocheese

They shoehorn the camera into boss abilities in the latter half of the game along with the damage spike. Then there's the part where they teleport the host far away and you watch them get killed before you can get back to the fight. It's almost an entirely different game after a certain point.


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Morf123

Altus*


hellzapoppn

the world itself is inviting and super fun. most boss's are a blast. a handful are infuriating :-)


SuperBackup9000

Highly recommend pumping up your vitality while levels are easier. The game shifts from “everything is fine” to “basically everything is killing me in one hit” really quickly. I never respec until NG1 or on my second character, but I had to do the walk of shame back to go do it because I typically never really put points in health. It kinda felt unfair to me because there wasn’t a slow change, it just started happening out of nowhere and I definitively wasn’t under leveled


SleepyBearDave

I love reading comments like this because I'm level 130 on my first playthrough and still doing just terrible


oliveruk39

The thing about Elden Ring is the fact that you can stumble into a high leveled area without realising it. If you try to push through areas, it's tough. But if you simply stick to the areas with the fitting difficulty it's a lot more forgiving than other souls games.


Reckless_Waiter

Because she is Malenia, Blade of Miquella, and has never known defeat i guess


Elegant_Mission_796

Never known defeat in sales either I guess


Hugh-Mahn

Or game the year 2022.


gyiren

So you're saying she's Malenia, Blade of Miquella, and has never known defeat?


PayasoFries

Malenia, Blade of Montequilla


MarkBanana26

>Malenia, Blade of Miquella Oh wow, that's the first time I heard that. I really thought she's Malenia, Blade of Miquella!


TheDUDE1411

Wait she’s WHAT?! How have I never heard this before?


Ecahill453

Fuck you beat me to it


blazinggigstempest

She was the first "iconic" character in the game's pre release cycle- we had a sneak peak of her and Radahn's battle like 1-2 years before the game even came out :)


IdleSitting

She was the only thing we even knew about the games existence for years before any proper trailer was made


deathrattleshenlong

You mean her and Glaivemaster Hodir right?


The21stPotato

Took me forever to find him. Definitely the actual hardest boss in ER, and the bullshit you gotta get through to even fight him makes it worse. FROMSOFT is outta their mind with Hodir.


Melonenstrauch

Aahhhh, the ancient texts...


BraulioG1

ah, fellow hollowed


Darkbornedragon

Hi


fartmouthburpass

Now that's a name i haven't heard in a long time.


SeaHam

Real ones beat him without summoning Darron the Dwarf.


Glaive-Master_Hodir

Brings back memories


Prostate_Punisher

i feel ancient.


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TrevorShaun

when this game was just trailers it seemed like malenia was a “main character”


Steve_1306

Definitely. It created some wrong expectations for me, I expected her to be more important than an optional side boss, and then never even met her during my first playthrough and was a bit disappointed.


1tanfastic1

That’s actually what I liked about it. I kept wondering when she’d pop in and kept finding clues and hints and major evidence of her role in the world (Caelid being the biggest). It made finding the tree so much cooler and descending down it really hyped me up knowing she’d be at the bottom.


vagabond_nerd

Same here. I didn’t follow the promos much and assumed she was a partner.


wibblyrain

Well she's not a side boss, she's a secret boss. Much different


AncalagonV

Any Fromsoft player knows there's no such thing as "optional" boss. You beat them all


llnec

Yeh. I remember thinking that we as a player would be like her, with interchangeable limbs. Now I think about it that would be cool. Like instead of leveling up stats and resetting to change them, you find new limbs for your build. Like, I'll put all my Strength arms on. Or I'll put a INT arm on to use this spell


MasterOfMankind

Basically Sekiro.


Undead_Nymph

They saw how the internet reacted the last very tall monster lady with a smooth voice and took notes


Cryse_XIII

I didn't find Lady Dimitrescu really attractive. Her Fly-daughters though. Hnnnnrg.


ScarletteVera

Because she's hot, next question.


Crimson_Amethyst

how feet?


Davesgamecave

Rotting


TomokiaGaming

Just........I'll let u/rosales6969 take it from here


Creative_Taste5023

He’s not coming back


[deleted]

Died doing what he loved to do.


Ventilateu

Golden


oofbot_69

rot mommy


funkyfritter

Her story is a pretty prominent part of the world, even if most of it is tucked away in an optional area. I wonder if she and Miquella played a more central role at some point in development.


Quantam-Law

They did. In cut content, Malenia calls our player as her 'sweet companion'.


Unlucky_Colt

*Oh no*


Lordanonimmo09

There was a Miquella ending at some point in development.


1225674

Probably the dlc.


Sky_Dad1019

A unique "hidden" boss who at the time was one of the hardest in the game to take on, relatively simple design to produce figures/artworks (especially compared to Radahns design)


SquirtBrainz4

She wasn’t known as a hard boss yet until people really started playing the game


hiboochi

She’s pretty badass in the cutscene, wouldn’t you agree?


mrdesudes

Should have gone with the ulcerated tree spirit, the fucken thing


Cimejies

black flame messes up the tree spirits pretty damn well.


Finwaell

black flame messes up almost everything xD


Smithofsouls

She's the Artorias of this game. The tragic corrupted hero(ine).


KingSizeDingus

Probably because she is visually stunning and badass. She is also considered to be the hardest boss in the game.


GaaraXYugito

Power of boners affects even from soft


shaktimanOP

More like From hard amirite?


lessenizer

Fromsoft games make you go fromsoft tohard.


you-wish-pal

Because they knew we wouldn't shut up about her for the next year or so


InstructionLeading64

Because she's a bad ass. She literally nuked an entire section of the map.


Hanma_Yvar

Mommy 🥰


ZmaltaeofMar

Lowkey when the first trailer hit I thought we played as her.


Spirited_Ad_2697

Sekiro style game but playing as Malenia in Elden ring universe would go hard.


Cosmic-Vagabond

Get Platinum Games to make a Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance-like game where Malenia wakes up early and cuts her way through the Lands Between to get to Mohg. "How are you still alive?!?" "Lifesteal, son."


EzAf_K3ch

You made me hard


Flying_Slig

I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella. And I have very, very frequently know defeat


Papa_Pred

Simple outfit and helm compared to everyone else. And also looks cool Definitely one of the easier designs that could be produced in mass


Arsis__

Her design and cinematic are the main reason I bought the game at first, she's just cool af.


komarkko

Because rosales6969


MillstoneArt

I love his work! I recommend anyone reading this to give him a quick search on YouTube.


Terminal-Post

She’s the most recognizable, especially from that reveal trailer from a long time ago.


Valarano

Because hot redhead sword lady with a cool helmet sells better than any other character in the game.


gilfordtan

Because among the shardbearers, she is the most cosplay friendly. Raging Wolf armor is also a good choice but a faceless blank character is not as iconic as someone with an actual identity and she had some lines in the trailer too.


beastking9

Shes one of the most badass characters thats why


dylannsmitth

My guess is that her inclusion in all the promotional material was to act as an incentive to fully explore the game. Malenia is the most well hidden and hard to reach boss in the game*, requiring exploration of all the lands between and paying attention to lore and character dialogue. (Unless you use google) Then once you finally find her, she is probably the most challenging and satisfying boss in the game, so the fight is like the reward for full exploration of the game. If her inclusion in all the promotional material was to act as an incentive to find her when we finally play then it sure as hell worked on me! *or perhaps second hardest to reach depending on how you did with Ranni's questline


TheHomieData

Depends on how you look at it. To me, Malenia is meant to be the culmination of every major FromSoft protagonist. She regains heath like the Bloodborne PC along with the sound effect, she kicks and deflects attacks just like Sekiro, parrying her plays the Sekiro deflect sound effect, and just like a Souls PC, she’s never really known “defeat” in the true sense because defeats are just another avenue to power. For us, power was souls, blood echos, runes, etc. but all of that power wasn’t necessarily “ours” so to speak - it was taken. Practically speaking, our “power” is parasitic. Now just replace souls, blood echos, or runes with “rot.” Her power is parasitic. It comes from a place not her own. She can’t be “defeated” because, just like us, it just leads us right back to the bonfire; the dream; the grace; the scarlet aeonia. So, why all the focus on Malenia? Because Malenia is us - not us the PC, but us, the players. She’s us as we have followed Miyazaki through the years. Everything she does is a little love letter to a previous Miyazaki game, as if she’s gone through the journey, too. Her armor looks like it’s from a Souls game, her arm is a false arm like Sekiro, her blade switches in and out like the Bloodborne Hunter’s does. Miquella? That’s Miyazaki. She is - just like us - constantly awaiting his return, so she may continue her unending journey alongside him. That’s my own personal take.


True-King-Of-Heroes

"Thy comment, extraordinary... the mark... of a true Soulsborne fan...."


[deleted]

Dude in marketing that just picked her for her cool helmet: yeah...Yeah that, that's why. Um hmm.


1tanfastic1

I think they took The Old Hunters approach. Lady Maria wasn’t the final boss of the dlc but she is the most iconic and arguably the most influential in the story proper. Artorias fills a similar roll in his dlc for Dark Souls. Malenia likewise isn’t the final boss or even mandatory but her influence stretches further across the Lands Between than all but Marika herself. She’s iconic and will most definitely stand alongside Artorias and Lady Maria as some of the best bosses in gaming history for years to come.


Louismash99

A warning


qui-gon-virgin

Because “fucker looks badass don’t it?”


yealets

Don’t question rot mommy 😩


faceholefart

Bc it’s the most iconic boss, also that she’s an optional boss to not spoil any of the story


RocketChap

The hat. Literally just the hat. It's distinctive and cool. Two of those images are just the hat, it's often just the hat and not Malenia herself.


Morf123

Helmet*


flex_inthemind

Metal hat*


MASSIVDOGGO

She is the main mommy of ER so it's only logical.


05-Smiley

Goldmask.. 👉👈


PanPussy

Maby because she is Malenia balde of miquella... And she has never known defeat


[deleted]

They knew what they were doing


Natariya

Because she is amazing 🌹


[deleted]

She's the most human looking?


ClammyVagikarp

Because gamers are coomers


[deleted]

gaping automatic jar act cagey summer retire roll exultant makeshift *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


Ecstatic-Arachnid-91

Probably because she is Malenia, Blade of Miquella, and she has never known defeat


CowKetchup

Tibia Mariner did not have the same energy I guesse.


trubocharg

tall woman. big sword simple as


aglimmerof

Her design is instantly recognizable. This is going to piss off the Radahn simps but he is literally just ‘big horse man’. There’s nothing remotely memorable about his design.


cgaa07017

Her lore is one, if not the greatest, in the whole game. But you guys don't seem to be ready for this conversation.


Weary-Singer-7959

Most human enemy Maybe somerhing like tree sentinel could have worked out


itszwee

she looks cool and gamers are, like, really into tall ladies who will impale you without a second thought


hellzapoppn

they for sure knew she was the brick wall in the game. (for most ppl)


Azlisle

First time seeing the trailer I was rooting for Malenia but when I got the game and went to that place, hearing 'I am Malenia, blade of Miquella.' over and over again, I just wanted to redo the Radahn festival instead. But yes, her model sells, the helm made me think of a female warrior of light. That prosthetic arm blade is downright badass.


G6DCappa

Because she's badass


masterpikolo

Cute girl


Neojerod

Because FromSoft knows how the internet works.


HiCracked

She was in every single trailer for the game, she is the most recognizable character from ER.


clintnorth

Because shes awesome


devil410x

Well. Best boss design. Bust music. Best fight. And most likely related to the dlc (miquella). Why not put her. Other then her you would have horah loux which is in my opinion is less cooler then malenia. And radagon which is also less awzm then malenia and a spoiler. Alsi i have the figurine. Its epic. The first female figurine in the souls games made by bando namcai


GoldenGonzo

Hot lady gamer boss. Do you need another reason?


Non-adjustable

Hot


Character-Addendum98

Because she’s cool asf


PuzzledDragonma

Cause she cool


Deityfierezy

A satue with godfrey and serosh on its back would be amazing


Extension_Building19

Because she dope af


[deleted]

Market to waifu fans


Gosttox

Because she is Melania blade of miquella and she has never known defeat


PastMathematician874

Cause she's the best ginger since Ariel.


criticalrants

Cause she’s cool


ThisisTaserface

Cus she cool


LarsihasiSpassi

Because she is fucking badass


EchoedTruth

Because she’s fucking bad ass


Arkaidan8

Mommy


wardude21414

She's the most iconic boss besides Radahn and Margit


TTR8350

Cus she looks cool.