Elden Ring has many things that are mysterious and the lore of the Bloodhound Knights is one such thing. Very little is known about these agile and silent knights. In this article, we’ll take the item descriptions of associated armour and weaponry into account in order to understand as much as possible about the Bloodhound Knights.
Equipment of Bloodhound Knights
As with many other enemies, a great way to learn these Bloodhound Knights’ lore is by reading item descriptions.
Bloodhound Knight Armour
Metal armour with a jutting breastplate. Worn by the Bloodhound Knights.
The Bloodhound Knights are trained as hunters and known to be unshakable trackers.
Without the use of language, each knight chooses his own master. Once the decision has been made, the knight stays loyal for life.
As real hounds, these knights are great trackers, and as real hounds, they’re trained. There’s a question: Who trained them? That’s another mystery. This description points out that they don’t use language. They choose their own master and stay loyal to them for life. Are they incapable of treachery like the Shadowbound knights like Maliketh and Blaidd?
Bloodhound Knights don’t stand upright as humans do. Instead, they keep they act like actual dogs, with their limbs touching the ground. We haven’t ever seen what these knights look like without their armour. Given the fact that their breastplate is jutting, maybe their chests are bigger than those of humans? This is simply speculation, though.
Bloodhound’s Fang
Curved greatsword with a gently undulating blade wielded by Bloodhound Knights.
A fearsome blade capable of brutal airborne attacks.
This item description doesn’t say much about the lore. But it makes it clear that they’re capable of airborne attacks. They leap around with their attacks. Another “hound” that leaps around and attack is Maliketh. Is there any connection between him and the Bloodhound Knights?
Bloodhound Knight’s Helm
Metal helm with a pointed beak. Worn by the Bloodhound Knights.
The Bloodhound Knights are trained as hunters and known to be unshakable trackers.
Without the use of language, each knight chooses his own master. Once the decision has been made, the knight stays loyal for life.
The only thing different about this description from the armour’s description is how it says the helm has a pointed beak. There aren’t many other helms with a unique design like this. Possibly, the knights’ faces are similar to those of actual hounds or wolves.
Bloodhound Knight Floh Spirit Summon
Spirit of a Bloodhound Knight they called the Rabid Stray. Will attack without pause immediately after being summoned.
Floh vowed that there was only one lord he would ever serve: a true king. And so, the Rabid Stray never found a master.
This Rabid Bloodhound Knight never chose a master. He has red eyes. Could it be that he became rabid because he didn’t have a master? Also, note how Blaidd also has red eyes when we encounter him at Ranni’s Rise after finishing the Princess’s quest. This is another potential connection between Half-wolves and Bloodhound Knights. Half-wolves suffer a curse that makes them go mad when their Empyrean chooses the dark path. But Floh didn’t have a master, so his madness must’ve been caused by something else. As I said earlier, it might just be because he didn’t have a master. That’s just speculation though.
Conclusively, we can decide that their appearance is different from that of men. And they may have similarities or even connections to Shadowbound half-wolves like Maliketh and Blaidd.
Bloodhound Knight Darriwil
This is the second Bloodhound Knight with a name in the game. When we start Blaidd’s questline, he seeks this knight and labels him a traitor. Blaidd refers to him as a “man” and that means they do have similarities to men. Darriwil is imprisoned in the Forlorn Hound’s Evergaol. Blaidd says that imprisonment is a lenient punishment for him and that he will kill him. He doesn’t say anything about why Darriwil is a traitor or how he knows him. Unlike Floh, he doesn’t have red eyes, meaning that he is not cursed.
If Darriwil is in fact, a traitor, that may mean they are capable of treachery, unlike the Shadowbound Half-wolves. Could it be that Darriwil betrayed his master? It’s very intriguing. Just who was Darriwil? Which master did he serve? What led to his imprisonment? Why does Blaidd so desperately want to kill an imprisoned knight? Now you must understand just how mysterious Bloodhound Knights are.
Are Bloodhound Knights connected to the Shadowbound Half-wolves in any way?
I explained above how Bloodhound knights could be capable of betrayal and thus making them different from Half-wolves like Maliketh or Blaidd. But it’s also clear that there is some sort of connection between Bloodhound Knights and Blaidd, who’s a half-wolf. Maybe Bloodhound knights are susceptible to a similar kind of madness/curse as the Half-wolves (said by the red eyes of Hostile Blaidd and Floh). As for appearance, Blaidd stands upright like a man, while Bloodhound knights have their limbs on the ground like actual dogs. Note how Maliketh also has his limbs on the ground as the Bloodhound Knights. And Maliketh’s face resembles that of an actual hound or a wolf. Given the fact that Bloodhound Knights’ helmets have pointed beaks, they may be similar to Maliketh in that regard.
In conclusion, the best we can say is that while Bloodhound Knights do have multiple similarities to Half-wolves/Shadows, they’re also quite different. Maybe they’re related in some way.
Because of how mysterious they are, it’s hard to come up with a solid description of the Bloodhound Knights. If you have theories of your own, share them with us in the forums.
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