Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy (2024)

Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy is a boss in Elden Ring. He is a Demigod and a Shardbearer who is encountered in Volcano Manor.

Overview[]

Pre-Shattering[]

Rykard was born the son of Radagon, a champion of the Erdtree, and Queen Rennala, head of both the Carian Royal Family and the Academy of Raya Lucaria.^[1] He had two siblings, Radahn and Ranni.

At some point, the first Elden Lord, Godfrey, was robbed of grace and hounded from the Lands Between. Rykard's father, Radagon, left Rennala to become Queen Marika's new consort and the second Elden Lord.^[2] Rykard and his siblings were thus raised to demigods by their new step-mother, Marika.^[3]

Under the Golden Order, Rykard was a ruthless justiciar who commanded a company of inquisitors.^[4] His inquisitors persecuted and mercilessly tortured those considered heretics to the Golden Order, such as the Albinaurics. He spent time in the volcanic Mt. Gelmir, where he discovered the ancient magma hexes of a forgotten serpent-worshiping religion native to the region, which he brought back into practical use as new sorceries.^[5][6] Rykard also travelled to a foreign land where he encountered a dancer by the name of Tanith, who he would eventually take as his consort.^[1]

Rykard was also known for the construction of the Iron Virgins, automatons which were capable of both battlefield carnage and abducting victims to transport them to the Volcano Manor.^[7]

Rykard's budding blasphemous inclinations led him to assist his sister, Ranni, in orchestrating the Night of Black Knives. On the night of the plot, Ranni rewarded Rykard with a slab of rock engraved with the traces of the Rune of Death, which would allow him to challenge the black beast of Destined Death, should the coming trespass one day transpire.^[8]

The Shattering[]

At some point following the the Night of Black Knives, Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring, and her offspring acquired the Great Runes. The maddening taint of their newfound strength led to the Shattering, a war between Marika's demigod descendants, each seeking to become the new ruler of the Lands Between.^[9]

Rykard was indignant, and viewed the Erdtree and the gods demanding that the demigods fight over miserly scraps of power to be debasing.^[10] He launched a blasphemous campaign against the Erdtree and the Greater Will.^[11] When he turned to heresy, taking by force became the rule, the gods themselves being no different.^[12] Rykard's ambitions, though blasphemous, marked him a worthy sovereign,^[13] and drew many followers to his cause who admired his heroic aspirations. His rebels were known as the Recusants.

Based in the Volcano Manor on Mt. Gelmir, his forces battled the armies of the Leyndell in what would become the most appalling battle of the Shattering,^[14] a wretched, unending war with no glory,^[15] which led to many of the participants succumbing to cannibalism and the Frenzied Sickness.

At some point during the Shattering, Rykard fed himself, Great Rune and all, to the blasphemous serpent that dwelled on Mt. Gelmir,^[3] an ancient traitor to the Erdtree,^[16] merging with the creature. In the final moments before being devoured, he briefly had a vision of the future wherein he witnessed a serpent devouring the world.^[17]

Following this, his lofty ambition degraded into gluttonous depravity.^[18] He fed on his greatest champions, and in the bowels of the serpent, they became the lord's family.^[19] Disturbed by what had become of their master and by the costly battles waged in his name, Rykard's forces abandoned him.^[18][20] Some attempted to put him to rest by searching for a mighty weapon capable of killing their lord. Such a weapon was found in the Serpent-Hunter, an enchanted spear crafted to hunt an immortal serpent in the distant past.^[21] However, all attempts made to take his life failed. The spear would come to reside in Rykard's chambers, left by a former Recusant who hoped a worthy champion might one day appear to wield it and spare the once-noble Rykard from further dishonor.^[22]

When Rykard gave himself to the elder serpent, the birth of the man-serpents followed,^[23] the deformed offspring of a repellent birthing ritual.^[24][25] One such man-serpent, known as Zorayas, would go on to be adopted by Tanith, and learn to assume an illusory human form in which she went by Rya. She was unaware of the origins of her birth, as Tanith concealed the truth of the Volcano Manor from her and insisted she was born of the grace of a king.^[26] It is implied that the woman known as Daedicar was one such woman subjected to the ritual, the biological mother of Zorayas and other man-serpents.^[27]

At some point before giving himself to the serpent, Rykard offered Tanith the Tonic of Forgetfulness to purge her memories of him, however, she refused, claiming "My Lord, there could be no greater distress than to forget you."^[28] Tanith was the only human to remain at Rykard's side after he became the serpent of blasphemy, in that moment, she was truly charmed by him.^[29] Tanith would continue to lead a new force of Recusants by recruiting the Tarnished once they had returned to the Lands Between after the events of the Shattering. Worthy Tarnished champions would be granted an audience with Rykard, which ended with them being devoured by the serpentine demigod to increase his power further.

Eventually, a Tarnished champion managed to reach Rykard's chambers, and defeated the serpentine demigod to claim his Great Rune. Rykard took notice of this and awoke to confront the Tarnished, then pulled out a massive sword from the serpent's mouth, while boasting that they would join the Serpent King as family. After a hard battle, Rykard was ultimately slain by the Tarnished. Upon his death, he claimed "A serpent never dies", proven true when his initially vanished corpse began to regenerate. A distraught Tanith would begin to eat Rykard's tremendous corpse, hoping that he might live in her, just as he had lived within the serpent.

Boss Fight[]

The fight consists of two distinct phases, each with its own health bar. Phase 1 must be beaten each time to reach phase 2.

The Serpent-Hunter can be found sticking out of a pile of corpses near the entrance to the arena, and can be obtained without alerting the boss. This weapon makes the fight significantly easier, as it produces blades of light when swung that allow for long-distance attacks.

Defeating this boss will terminate Tanith's questline, regardless of how far one has progressed it. Any Volcano Manor targets not yet unlocked will also be missed.

Moveset[]

Phase 1 - God-Devouring Serpent[]

The God-Devouring Serpent is slow-moving, surrounded by a pool of magma. The magma makes it difficult to get close without taking damage, however the Serpent-Hunter allows for one to attack from a safer distance. It uses a combination of quick biting attacks and eruptions of magma, as well as a poison attack.

Phase 2 - Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy[]

After reducing the Serpent's health to 0, a cutscene plays and phase 2 begins. Rykard, armed with a sword, moves around the arena similarly to the Serpent, however his moveset is almost entirely new.

Environment[]

Rykard's arena is a spacious cavern, dotted with piles of corpses and tall corpse pillars, which can be broken by Rykard's attacks. The size of the arena is helpful for avoiding Rykard's Rancor and Rancor Rain, as one can run around the room until the attack ends.

Notes[]

• Localisation Notes
  • The "coming trespass" mentioned in the Blasphemous Claw description is more specifically the "coming blasphemy" (冒涜, Bōtoku.)

Dialogue[]

Gallery[]

References[]

Categoty:Volcano Manor