At the beginning of the story of Elden Ring, you fight a boss, Godric the Graft.

In this article, a native Japanese writer explained the lore of Godrick the Grafted including Japanese backgrounds.

目次 (Contents)

Bloodline
Disgusting Appearance
Grafting
Purpose
Defeated by Radahn and Malenia
Postscript

Bloodline

Godrick the Grafted descends from Marika and Godfrey.

Godrick is not Marika‘s direct child, so it is said that he was weak, as Enia said below:

Enia
…Indeed. But remember one thing. The demigods are each and all the direct offspring of Queen Marika. Godrick the Grafted was but a distant relation… The runt of the litter, his divine blood sorely diluted.

Godrick was the weakest of the demigods, maybe so he was placed as the first demigod boss to fight.

(By the way, the first demigod you fight may be Margit, but Margit is a thoughtform of Morgott, so maybe not a demigod…)

Disgusting Appearance

One of the Godrick’s features is that he has a lot of disgusting arms.

The reason why Godrick became such an ugly appearance is described in the text of Remembrance of the Grafted.

Remembrance of the Grafted
A feeble man sought power through the grotesque act of grafting. “One day we’ll return together, to our home, bathed in rays of gold.”

In short, Godrick got to use the grafting because of the lack of power.

Grafting

The grafting is a technique to gain strength by joining the bodies of living things together.

Roderika
Everyone who came with me. They crossed the sea for me. They fought, for me. Heh… Only to have their arms taken. Their legs taken. Even their heads…taken. Taken and stuck to the spider.

From the dialogue above, you can see that grafting involves dismembering a corpse and then connecting them into a body.

What a terrible technique…

By the way, the origin of this grafting is derived from an ancient power.

Ornamental Straight Sword
After falling from grace, the dregs of the golden lineage sought power and purpose in the past.

The power in the past would be related to the primeval current of glintstone sorcery.

The primeval current of glintstone sorcery is the magic that fuses souls and stones

In the research of of the primeval current of glintstone sorcery, the school of graven mages is made.

Graven-School Talisman
A talisman depicting a school of graven mages, the nightmare of the academy.
Raises potency of sorceries.
The primeval current is a forbidden tradition of glintstone sorcery. To those who cleave to its teachings, the act of collecting sorcerers to fashion them into the seeds of stars is but another path of scientific inquiry.

In the point of connecting humans into one entity, the primeval current of glintstone sorcery and the grafting are the same.

Let’s think a little deeper.

In the world view of Elden Ring, life would be composed of three elements: body, soul, and mind.

Therefore, from the above point of view, the grafting is a technique that combines multiple bodies, while the primeval current of glintstone sorcery is a technique that combines multiple souls.

In addition, as I mentioned earlier, both grafting and the primeval current of glintstone sorcery are derived from an ancient power that may be Crucible.

Crucible is a state in which everything is mixed, and existed mainly in the ancient times.

Aspects of the Crucible: Horns
One of the ancient Erdtree incantations.
This is a manifestation of the Erdtree’s primal vital energies – an aspect of the primordial crucible, where all life was once blended together.

Therefore, the author speculates that the “source of pyroxene magic” and “grafting” were born in the process of deriving life from the crucible.

Purpose

The purpose of Godrick is to be strong in order to return to his hometown.

Remembrance of the Grafted
A feeble man sought power through the grotesque act of grafting. “One day we’ll return together, to our home, bathed in rays of gold.”

In fact, Godrick governs Stormveil Castle, but it is far from the Erdtree, so the management of Stormveil Castle would be actually treated as a relegation.

In addition, in order to return to the foot of the Erdtree, it may be necessary to become stronger than Morgott.

Because Morgott is in front of the Erdtree, and he is hostile to Godrick.

Morgott
Graceless Tarnished.
What is thy business with these thrones?
Ahh… Godrick the Golden. The twin prodigies, Miquella and Malenia. General Radahn. Praetor Rykard. Lunar Princess Ranni.
Wilful traitors, all.
Thy kind are all of a piece. Pillagers. Emboldened by the flame of ambition.
Have it writ upon thy meagre grave:
Felled by King Morgott! Last of all kings.

So, Godrick has to defeat Morgott in order to return to home, the foot of the Erdtree, which would be the reason why he wanted the power.

Defeated by Radahn and Malenia

Kenneth Haight talks about Godrick as follows:

Kenneth Haight
Honestly, Godrick’s no more than a jumped up country bumpkin. Lord? Don’t make me laugh. First he hid himself amongst the womenfolk to flee the capital, then hid from Radahn in that castle… Then he insulted Malenia, lost to her in battle, only to lick her boots rather than die like a man. Has he no shame, the big girl’s blouse? And to think, he’s the blood of Godfrey! Last of the golden lineage, though you almost wouldn’t know it to look at him. I almost feel sorry for the chap the more I think of it.

So, we can see that Godrick is defeated by Malenia (and Radahn).

Especially for Malenia, “Then he insulted Malenia, lost to her in battle, only to lick her boots rather than die like a man”.

However, since Malenia and Radahn are the two strongest demigods, I feel Kenneth Haight speaks too badly of Godrick

Postscript

This article explained the lore of Godrick the Grafted.