hello, i have a huge trove of elden ring models i would like to dig into in order to restore life to the desiccated wasteland that is my blog (i got married in oct and it took a lot out of me for a long time!). the trove is big enough that i struggle to remember which model is which scrolling through the files. to sort this out, i will slowly dig through the data and put names we recognize to the nondescript file names while musing on the details, secrets, and little flourishes present in each model.

however, the tools i have struggle to render certain things (particle effects, some hair) as they require being rendered in the game engine in order to be displayed correctly. for a creator who does this kind of thing better, check out bonfirevn’s videos showcasing various models using what i assume is a jailbroken playstation (resulting in working hair and particle effects, as well as atmospheric lighting). if you want to try to do this yourself, check out meowmaritus’ modding tools via their patreon or their github.

if you’re willing to accept functional, but ugly, models then read on. this post assumes that you have already played elden ring and recognize the characters and concepts it revolves around. however, because i am long-winded and love to talk, i will explain things in some depth for people who like to read about the game, but not play it.


c0000- it’s you

c0000 is the player/npc character model. its VERY customizable, allowing me to futz with the armors, weapons, and presets. we could spend all day here looking at armors that i otherwise only see from a distance while playing the game on my couch. in fact, this entire first update will be about the armor/weapon details. we might as well dive in.


headwear

first discovery: rogier’s hat has a feather in the cap1 that strongly resembles the feathers of the gravebirds2 from the land of shadow. given his skepticism of the golden order’s treatment toward Those Who Live in Death (TWLID for short, from here on out), this is a neat little hint toward his shift in alignment.

1. spellblade’s pointed hat.
2. gravebird plumage.
(source)

the black wolf mask was worn by an assassin pretending to be ranni’s beloved brother/dog (long story), blaidd. however, the fake has silver eyes graced with gold1, while the real blaidd has purple eyes2.

1. the eyes of the black wolf mask.
2. blaidd’s eye.
 

here’s a comparison between banished knight helm (altered)1 and the malformed dragon helm2. curiously, the dragon on the banished knight has kirin-type horns and the malformed dragon looks strangely mammalian with a fish-y tail.

1. banished knight’s helm (altered).

2. malformed dragon helm.
“After the great ancient dragon Gransax attacked, the sentinels had an epiphany. The only way to truly protect the Erdtree was to become dragons themselves”.

well, well. loretta’s helmet has some interesting features that distinguish it as a sort of odd piece of story-telling. loretta was once a knight under the service of the carian royal family who defected (or was given, through his father) to miquella to serve the haligtree. as a result, her helmet features both silver (for the carian royalty) and gold elements (for miquella) that present a rather on the nose narrative: the silver helm is a rooted seed that sprouts a golden tree.

royal knight helm.

this is not the only time a sprouting seed is featured in loretta’s design; her shield is also a silver seed sprouting miquella’s yellow amber. i believe it is generally agreed by the fandom that the gold bits in loretta’s design were added after house caria embraced the erdtree and not before, as they were mortal enemies prior the wedding of rennala and radagon. what a ridiculous, silly helmet. it must hurt her neck like crazy.

this detail is inconsequential, but i had never noticed it before: the horned headbands come with earrings.

shining horn headband.
great horned headband.

there’s a third, really big eye on the fire prelate’s helm.

fire prelate helm.

the aristocrat headband is only worth noting because a variation of it is worn by a character of consequence: godrick the grafted. this can be dropped by the weakest enemies in the game, the wandering nobles found throughout the lands between. i recently saw godrick described as a “wandering noble boss fight” and i thought that was a very interesting and true way to think about him lol. the strongest, weakest enemy.

aristocrat headband.
“Abandoning their birthplace after the Shattering, these undead wanderers are the pitiful product of unending life.

the vulgar militia helm is just bizarre. i don’t even know what to make of this. i guess you could have lunch on the very top?

vulgar militia helm.

i hadn’t noticed it before, but the royal remains helm has several jewels embedded in it. ensha’s gold-covered, skeletal armor of a historical figure is intended to evoke the imagery/idea of a catacomb saint.

royal remains helm, note the gem in the forehead, the gems lining the jaw, and the flaking gold.

one of my favorite stupid looking helmets, the beast champion helm features three wolves fighting and grasping for a sliver of gold.

beast champion helm.

im not sure ive ever seen anyone discuss this: there are two versions of sellen’s glintstone crown. the one she wears on her…not-body and her real body is broken and missing the tallest crystal. the puppet body you put her soul into is wearing the full version that you obtain. this isn’t worth screencapping because it’s easily seen in game, but i didn’t notice it until just this second.

there’s a strange, spiral marking on the divine beast head’s (not helm’s) nose. it shows up in game as well. while i understand the thematic importance of the spiral, the colors are absolutely bizarre.

divine beast head.

that’s everything of interest in helmets. on to the chest pieces.


armor

here’s something intriguing: the drake armor set (altered) has some unusual writing on it. it resembles the writing of the two fingers1, but with a more sinister nature2. the item description makes no mention of this. i’ve included the coded sword, which we know to be the “handwriting” of the two fingers, as a comparison point.

1. coded sword sample.
2. drake knight armor.

how odd. the scaled armor (not to be confused with the mundane “scale armor”) is described as being “reinforced” with scales for protection, but it certainly looks more like the scales are erupting from the damaged parts spontaneously.

scaled armor.

the perfumer is carrying a kiseru, a type of japanese pipe. not important at all, but interesting.

perfumer robe.

the symbol on the fire prelate’s armor is not used often at all in game and may be a symbol to represent the fire monks themselves. perhaps its two hands gripping a staff tipped with a fireball?

fire prelate armor.

there’s like….a little shelf with a melted candle on the royal remains armor. it looks very silly. never noticed it at all before.

royal remains armor.

there’s a scary face on the back of the bloodhound knight armor lmfao. surprising! the scary biter.

bloodhound knight armor (back).

this is a fairly well known piece of trivia i think: the festival dancers wear two different colored and patterned capes. the yellow cape bears what looks like the erdtree sigil. the blue cape pattern resembles the decoration on the godskin noble’s armor.

festive garb (back).
erdtree sigil.
blue festive garb (back).
godskin noble robe.

the blue festive garb and the godskin noble robe are rather yonic lol.

the confessor armor is unique in that it has a symbol i do not think appears literally anywhere else in the game, save for the black key crossbow. both the confessors and the users of the crossbow were assassins ordained by the two fingers.

confessor armor.

it’s up for interpretation as to what the dagger is plunging into. dual snakes? a wound? the concept of a spiral? all three? we will never know.

another mystery i will never solve is why the master sorcerers lusat and azur have cloaks1 that bear an uncanny likeness to the raptor’s black feathers armor2.


1. lusat’s robe (back)
Since the grand masters Azur and Lusat were driven from the academy, no one has achieved their formerly-held rank.

2. raptor’s black feathers (back)
“Worn by the assassins of Ravenmount.
A ritual implement for transforming into a Deathbird, if only by imitation.”

this observation is made all the stranger by the appearance of a ravenmount assassin in raya lucaria. perhaps a lot of bird related things originate from raya lucaria, home of the knights of the cuckoo.

“raptor’s black feathers” appears to the name of the coat1, the rest of the outfit is just the standard bandit set2.

1. raptor’s black feathers.
2. bandit set.

the chest armor section also includes full body transformations, such as the dragon transformation and the lamenter body from the dlc. the thing about the lamenter is that when you turn into him, you grow a face on your back.

the lamenter (back).

while this isn’t the first face we’ve seen grow on a torso, it usually happens on the front. what a weird, weird thing the lamenter is. that’s all for armor! i didn’t have a single thing to say about gauntlets, so let’s skip them.


legs

alberich, the mad tongue wizard, has a snake belt buckle with a red gemstone eye. very thematic. i wonder if he picked it out before or after getting into red glintstone and blasphemy.

alberich’s trousers.

for whatever reason, the crotch/ass of the fire monk’s greaves are worn away and now there’s a hole. deepest lore…i went out of my way to check every other pants; its only this pair.

fire monk greaves.

huh! the twinned greaves actually answered a question that started forming as i was looking at the twinned armor: it depicts someone silver phasing through, melding, or sublimating into someone who is gold.

twinned greaves.

lionel has spurs! the first i’ve seen in the collection so far. he must have a horse or just a desire to look cool as hell.

lionel’s greaves.

there are several very generic armors in the game. for example, every kingdom has its own foot soldiers and knights and the differences in appearance largely boil down to armor color. but cuckoo knight greaves are the only greaves in all of the generic knight greaves that comes pre-covered in white, albinauric blood.

cuckoo knight greaves (not cum).
leyndell greaves.

that’s all for pants! time for weapons and shields!


weapons/shields

my first surprise was something i should have noticed or at least thought about before now. some weapons have equally ornate or interesting sheaths/scabbards.


glintstone kris.

melina wields the blade of calling, which as it turns out has a purple sheath. the knife itself is a fillet knife.

blade of calling.

the golden epitaph1 features a very familiar pose2 at its tip.

1. golden epitaph.
2. sacred relic sword.

the wolf’s head on the pommel of the scorpion’s stinger has been the subject of great debate in the elden lore world. wolves are important, you know.

scorpion’s stinger.

i have no idea what the hell is going on here. the scabbard for rogier’s rapier summons an entire guy with the scabbard’s textures. who is he. what does he want.

rogier’s rapier, probably.

oh! the antspur rapier hilt is an ant! that’s cute.

antspur rapier.

the scavenger’s curved sword, found on mt gelmir, has an unusual pommel/hilt: a figure of a woman holding a baby. this is a common thematic icon found in other things associated with gelmir, such as the abductor virgin enemies.

scavenger’s curved sword.

the pommel of the dragonscale blade is a dragonkin soldier head.

dragonscale blade.

the scepter of the all knowing contains an entire galaxy.

scepter of the all knowing.

the dragon halberd looks….strange. like a dog, almost. note the ears and generally unconvincingly faux-draconian appearance.

dragon halberd.

the tip of the staff of the guilty features an ambiguous little dead fetal thing brimming with glintstone. sad. oh well, there’s other guys.

staff of the guilty.

the beast claw is a real withered hand you slip your own hand into. this is not the only example of this kind of yucky hand weapon from the dlc, but certainly the most subtle.

beast claw.

and that’s everything i could find worth mentioning in the weapons and armor files! hope you enjoyed, learned something, or, at the very least, didn’t cry. here’s one for the road for everyone who made it to the end: the dragon priestess without her mask on lol

2 thoughts on “cataloguing and looking at elden ring models

  1. this is so cool to come across pls pls pls lmk how you were able to access these models all my favs are super underrepresented (tree sentinel lowkey) and i really would love to be able to reference a 3D model when i draw !!! thank uuu this is such a cool read

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