Queen Marika the Eternal

Queen Marika the Eternal is the most influential figure in the world of Elden Ring.

Overview Queen Marika is a god and the current vessel of the Elden Ring. She reigns as the divine sovereign of the Lands Between, and her Demigod offspring are shardbearers in possession of the Great Runes. She has been missing for quite some time.

Early Life Marika was a Numen, as well as a Shaman from the Shaman Village in the Hinterlands. The Hornsent considered the flesh of Shamans to meld harmoniously with others, and utilized this property in the jar rituals conducted on persecuted criminals, who were sliced up and stuffed into the jars to be reborn as saints instead. The people of Marika's village were stolen away from their home to be used for this purpose.

Marika was at some point recognized as an Empyrean by the Two Fingers and gifted a Shadowbound Beast: her half-brother Maliketh. She later ascended to godhood at the Gate of Divinity atop the tower of Enir-Ilim, becoming the vessel for the Elden Ring. This affair led to the birth of the Erdtree and Scadutree, and was considered a betrayal by the Hornsent.

Prior to or following her ascension, Marika came into conflict with another Empyrean known as the Gloam-Eyed Queen. After emerging victorious, and desiring a world free of Destined Death, she removed the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring, using Maliketh as a vessel to lock it away, thus establishing the Golden Order

At some point during this period, Marika took the warrior Godfrey as her consort, who became both the first demigod and first Elden Lord.

Eventually, Marika returned to the abandoned Shaman Village for the last time. After cutting off a braid of her hair and leaving it as an offering to the Grandmother, she bathed her home in the healing light of gold, knowing full well that there was no one to heal, and would never return.

Age of the Erdtree In the early days, everything was in opposition to the Erdtree. With Godfrey’s aid, Marika waged a War Against the Giants atop the frigid northern mountains, whose Flame of Ruin was capable of burning the Erdtree. Ultimately victorious, Marika was believed to have slain the Fell God of the Fire Giants. Upon learning that the Flame of Ruin would never die, however, she cursed the last of the giants to tend to it for eternity. Marika declared the path the mountains as Forbidden Lands and excised details of the war from history.

Marika and Godfrey would rule together and have at least three children: Godwyn the Golden and the twins Morgott and Mohg. The twins were both born as accursed Omen and were hidden in the depths below the capital. Even so, Godfrey and his Golden Lineage would be counted as the first of the demigods. Godfrey went on to conquer many lands for the Erdtree.

Liurnian Wars Queen Marika desired to conquer Liurnia of the Lakes, the land of the Academy of Raya Lucaria and the Carian Royal Family. She declared war on the glintstone sorcerers and sent a golden host led by her secret other half: a red-haired champion named Radagon. The champions of the moon, led by Rennala, repelled the glorious warriors of the Erdtree for a time but it ended in a draw. In the second Liurnian War, Radagon invades again but this time, he uses the Celestial Dew at the Church of Vows in a ritual to recant his aggressions and seek absolution. The Carian Queen accepted and their wrongdoings were washed away. The two were wed and produced three children: Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni.

Godfrey's banishment With her rule secure, Marika announced her intention to search the depths of the Golden Order, declaring the early days of blind belief a thing long past. When Godfrey's last foe fell it was said the hue of his eyes had faded. Marika banished him and his kinfolk from the Lands Between, robbing them of their grace, thus creating the first Tarnished, all in the hope that they would grow stronger by waging war in lands outside her rule, dying, and then eventually being revived with their guidance of grace returned.

Marika sent her son Messmer away on a crusade into the lands of the Hornsent. Despite her precautions, her fear of the Abyssal Serpent sealed within him led her to trap him within the Realm of Shadow, where he would wage war to exterminate the Hornsent and devastate their lands. No matter how many of her enemies burned in his flame, however, Messmer received no sign from Marika to end his crusade. To hide away these actions and the true nature of her godhood, Marika hid the Realm of Shadow behind a magical veil to obscure it from public knowledge.

King Consort Radagon After Godfrey's banishment from the Lands Between, Marika took Radagon as second husband and King Consort, elevating him to become the second Elden Lord. Radagon already had three children with Queen Rennala of the Carian Royal Family, and after his union with Marika, she would raise her new step-children, Radahn, Rykard and Ranni, to demigod status.

Marika and Radagon would go on to have two more children of their own, the twins Malenia and Miquella, who like Marika herself and Radagon's daughter Ranni, were Empyreans, and were thus potential successors to Marika. However, Radagon and Marika were in truth the same. Radagon was described as Marika's male "other self". Thus the twins were the children of a single god, and they were both born afflicted: Malenia with rotting sickness and Miquella with eternal childhood.

Night of Black Knives On the Night of Black Knives, a fragment of the Rune of Death was stolen from Maliketh. For a long time it was not known who was behind the plot, but it is finally revealed it was in fact Ranni who stole the fragment of the rune to forge god-slaying black knives through a fearsome rite.

The Black Knife Assassins, Numen women purported to have close ties to Marika herself, used these knives to slay Godwyn the Golden, the first recorded death of a demigod in all history. Queen Marika is said to have been driven to the brink by the death of Godwyn, and she instructed her Demigod children to fight for the positions of Elden Lord and that of godhood.

The Shattering Some time after the Night of Black Knives, Queen Marika used her Numen hammer to shatter the Elden Ring.

Fragments of the ring splintered into Great Runes and spread across the Lands Between, starting a conflict between her demigod children. War after war was fought, but there was no victor. For her part, Marika would be imprisoned inside the Erdtree, possibly by the Elden Beast or the Greater Will itself.

True to her promise to Godfrey and his warriors, grace was restored to the banished Tarnished. They would rise from their graves, and journey to the Lands Between to once again brandish the Elden Ring. The Tarnished formed the Roundtable Hold, where they worked to realize the goal given to them by Marika. They would be served by a Misbegotten blacksmith named Hewg, whom Marika herself had charged with smithing a "god-slaying weapon" before his imprisonment in the Hold.

Game events Eventually, the Tarnished manages to fight their way into the Erdtree, where the shattered Marika lay imprisoned. Marika is suddenly released from her bonds, with Radagon asserting control of their shared body and confronting the Tarnished. After defeating Radagon and the Elden Beast itself, the Tarnished may choose what to do with the fractured body of Marika. Marika's head is restored to her frame if the Elden Ring is mended, either by itself or with a Mending Rune. If Ranni is summoned, she picks up Marika's head gently, peacefully dissipating along with the rest of her body. If the Tarnished is the Lord of Frenzied Flame, Marika's head breaks apart and crumbles into ash.

By choosing to go down the Elden Lord path, whether the regular one or using any of the three Mending Runes to fix the Elden Ring within Marika, the Tarnished champion ushers in a new age. They become the third Elden Lord and effectively Marika's new consort in every one of them, except in the Age of the Stars (where they become consort to Ranni) and in the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending (where they make the whole world burn). However, Queen Marika remains shattered and unresponsive, with only the Elden Ring itself shining brightly within her body.

Personality Marika the Eternal is worshipped and believed by many to be a goddess that brings joy and blessings across the world. Her actions, however, suggest that she is not truly the benevolent being that her followers are led to believe. While her expansion upon the Lands Between initially brought order and prosperity amongst its, inhabitants part of it brought in conflict in return. Most notably, she had eliminated the Fire Giant race to near extinction as part of her conquest, having left one survivor behind. She then imprisoned this survivor with a curse to watch over the Flame of Ruin, so that no one else could come into its possession and use it to burn the Erdtree.

Marika's involvement in the Night of Black Knives suggests that she may possibly have a treacherous side of her as it is believed that Godwyn's death may have been her doing due to the Black Knife Assassins having connections with Marika, despite being driven to the brink over her son's death. In addition, it is mentioned in Maliketh's Remembrance that, in spite of entrusting her half-brother the role to guard Destined Death, she had betrayed him, nonetheless, suggesting a sign of disloyalty towards even her family.

It is also implied from their shackles and the description of the Regal Omen Bairn that Mohg and Morgott were not treated fairly by their mother, as Omen children born of royalty are imprisoned underneath the capital city of Leyndell, and retain their horns. This would explain why both brothers retain their horns and why Mohg is found beneath the capital in the sewers.

In spite of all this, Marika's motives and intentions are entirely enigmatic, especially in regard to her shattering the Elden Ring. Whether the things she's done were purely malicious or the results of her being a slave to the Greater Will and the Golden Order remains unknown. The latter is heavily suggested, however as certain descriptions of different objects suggest that Marika slowly grew to question the intent of the Golden Order.

Her background as a former resident of the Shaman Village suggests that the cruel fate that her people were subjected to by the Hornsent led her down to the path of an oppressive warlord. Ultimately, this led her to cultivate a hatred for the Hornsent and to a greater extent, the Omen as well, as their horns reminded her of the Hornsent themselves.

Goals: Seek out a new Elden Lord and restore the Lands Between to its former glory.

Appearance: She is a slim and elegant woman with a long blonde braid that falls over one of her shoulders. She wears a dark, form-fitting dress with a simple yet elegant design. The dress features a high slit on one side, revealing one leg, which adds a touch of sophistication and confidence to her appearance. She is barefoot, reinforcing a sense of naturalness or vulnerability. Her demeanor conveys a mix of power and serenity. She also has big attributes, big breasts and a huge, perfectly shaped ass.