The Tarnished is the protagonist character of Elden Ring. Did you know how the Tarnished champions came to be in the Lands Between? Here’s what you need to know, explained simply.
History of the Tarnished
In the world of Elden Ring, there are omnipotent and omniscient beings known as Greater Wills. The Erdtree in the lands between is the symbol of the Greater Will’s Golden Order. The Erdtree blessed the Tarnished champions with Erdtree’s Grace.
But these warriors eventually lost the Guidance of Grace and were banished from the Lands Between by Queen Marika, the Eternal who was the Queen of the Lands Between. There is no clear reason as to why they were stripped of Erdtree’s Grace and banished from their own lands.
Read more about Queen Marika here (Contains major spoilers): https://eldenring.fandom.com/wiki/Queen_Marika_the_Eternal
Then, the Shattering of the Elden Ring happened.
The Greater Will’s power in the Lands Between became weakened by this incident. The Greater Will blessed the exiled Tarnished with Grace once more, via the Erdtree, and called them back to the Lands Between.
This was because the Greater Will needed someone to regain control of the Lands Between and establish the Golden Order once more.
We can uncover that Queen Marika, the Eternal became the ruler of the Lands Between with assistance from the Greater Will. It’s clear that she served the Greater Will in some way.
After the Shattering, Queen Marika disappeared from the Lands Between. So now the Greater Will had no one to do their bidding.
Thus, the Greater Will requires you, The Tarnished to become Elden Lord, so they can re-establish the Golden Order.
The Power Struggle among the Tarnished and the Demigods of the Lands Between.
The Tarnished is a very ambitious individual that plans to slay the mighty Demi-gods and collect the shards of the Elden Ring. But he has no renown.
There is a power struggle going on in the Lands Between. And you, the Tarnished, aim to become the ruler of the Lands Between against all odds.
The Tarnished have to make a choice. Is he going to join the Order or choose another path?
The Erdtree governs all. The choice is thine. Become one with the Order. Or divest thyself of it. To wallow at the fringes; a powerless upstart.”
–Queen Marika, the Eternal
How you achieve your goal is completely up to you.
