The main chatacter of Elden Ring is the Tarnished.

However, there are few explanations for the Tarnished in the story of ELDEN RING

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

目次 (Contents)

The Color of Eyes Faded
Godfrey’s Descendant
Blessed Again
Immortality
Postscript

The Color of Eyes Faded

The Tarnished refer to people whose colors of eyes have faded.

In the stage of the story, Lands Between, people blessed by Erdtree have golden glint in their eyes.

However, one day, there appeared people who were abandoned by the Erdtree and no longer had the golden glint in their eyes.

Those who no longer had the golden glint in their eyes were banished from the Lands Between and got to called as the Tarnished.

(There are various theories as to why the Tarnished lost their blessing.)

And, the director of Elden Ring, Miyazaki, said that the main character is a descendant of the Tarnished (Reference).

Godfrey’s Descendant

Furthermore, it is possible that the Tarnished are descended from Godfrey, the First Elden Lord.

First of all, Godfrey once lost his blessing and became a Tarnished one, according to the text of Remembrance of Hoarah Loux.

Remembrance of Hoarah Loux
When Godfrey, first Elden Lord was robbed of his grace, becoming Tarnished, he took with him his kinfolk and left the Lands Between. After the Long March of the Tarnished came to an end, Godfrey divested himself of kingship, becoming a simple warrior once more.

And, Godfrey‘s child Margit makes the following remarks during his fight.

Margit
Well, thou art of passing skill. Warrior blood must truly run in thy veins, Tarnished.

Maybe, Godfrey is the first Tarnished one, so it can be interpreted that the “Warrior blood” would represent the Godfrey’s Blood.

From these points, the main character would be the Godfrey‘s descendant.

Blessed Again

However, when you actually play ELDEN RING, the Tarnished including the main character are blessed by Erdtree.

You may wonder why the Tarnished, who has lost their blessing, is blessed again.

In conclusion, that’s because the side of the Erdtree such as Greater Will and Two Fingers changed their mind.

Two Fingers had utilized the Shattering to select an Elden Lord among the demigods in order to restore the Elden Ring broken by Marika.

However, there was no winner in the Shattering, and the demigods have the fragment of the Elden Ring.

So, Two Fingers gave the guidance and grace again and made the Tarnished collect the fragments of the Elden Ring.

Immortality

As you know very much, the Tarnished are immortal, as also described in the opening movie of ELDEN RING.

Opening Movie
And now the guidance of grace will be brought to the Tarnished who were spurned by the grace of gold and exiled from the Lands Between. Ye dead who yet live, your grace long lost, follow the path to the Lands Between beyond the foggy sea to stand before the Elden Ring.

By the way, the reason the Tarnished are immortal is that they are blessed by Erdtree.

In other words, the grace of Golden Order can give the immortality, and so the Tarnished blessed by Erdtree is immortal.

Postscript

This article explained the lore of the Tarnished.