Elden Ring’s massive cast is welcoming another big member.
It can be hard to remember who is who in Elden Ring’s massive cast, and the addition of Messmer in Shadow of the Erdtree won’t make it any easier. The sprawling family trees of the Lands Between will grow even bigger in the expansion. While there will certainly be many new names and faces to learn, the character of Messmer takes center stage in promotional materials for the expansion.
His striking armor and fashionable snake help him stand out from the crowd, but fans may already be intimately familiar with the character based on information found in the main game. The new gameplay trailer gives several hints at his identity, and developer Hidetaka Miyazaki has given even more info. Here is everything we know about Messmer, from who his family members are to what role he will play in the DLC’s new story.
Who is Messmer? The chief antagonist in Shadow of the Erdtree
Messmer is a new Elden Ring character that will appear in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC as a boss fight, but who he is beyond that is anyone’s guess. He does not appear directly in the base game, but there are some hints that fans are already familiar with his story.
The first is his name. Many of the families in Elden Ring use the same first letter for their given names. Ragadon and Rennala’s kids are Rykard, Ranni, and Radahn. Radagon and Marika’s known children and Malenia and Miquella. Messmer is almost definitely another member of that family. Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyakazi appeared to confirm the detail in an interview with Famitsu.
“The chair that Mesmer is sitting on is the same chair that was used in the main story during the battle with ‘The Abominable King, Morgot,’ and he is also a being on the same level as Godrick, Malenia, Rhadan, Rykard, etc. It is also called ‘Marika's child,’” said Miyazaki, according to digital translation.
Miyazaki, who is also the director of Shadow of the Erdtree, confirms that Messmer is an Empyrean. It also appears to confirm that Messmer is a son of Marika, though the quotations around the title make it somewhat ambiguous. Messmer’s bright red hair and Cleanrot-esque helmet further tie him to the family.
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Shadow of the Erdtree could reveal Rykard’s past as well
Lastly, and perhaps most obviously, Messmer is likely related to the story of Rykard. Ranni and Radahn’s brother fed himself to a heretical snake that lived on Mt. Gelmir as an act of heresy toward the Greater Will and its Erdtree.
In the game's lore, snakes are ancient enemies of the Erdtree, which fits into the DLC’s apparent themes. Messmer’s elaborate costume includes a living snake wrapped around his torso along with other snake decorations like the ones on his gauntlets. He could have tipped Rykard off to the snake’s power, leading him to fuse with the serpent.
Messmer’s motivations for doing so are unclear. It could have been a genuine attempt to help his half-brother or a way to eliminate Rykard from the Shattering. His use of magic further supports this theory. Messmer appears to use Aberrant sorceries in his fight, namely Briars of Punishment and Briars of Sin.
This runs in parallel with the idea that Messmer is not necessarily the big bad of Shadow of the Erdtree, but if not him, then who? Just as the main game ends with a fight against a giant celestial sea slug that comes out of nowhere, the DLC could introduce another outer god for the player to fight. This one could represent heresy against the Erdtree. Quiet sibling Miquella will also play a big role in the story. There’s always a chance he will follow in his sister’s footsteps as an antagonist.
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