The upcoming Shadow from the Erdtree DLC includes a chance to drop more hints into Elden Ring Items concerning the 'FromSoftware Connected Universe' fan theory.

Developer FromSoftware includes a long good reputation for including a number of self-referential items and characters across its roster of games, that has already continued into Elden Ring in many ways. However, out of the box is often the case using the developer's add-on content, Elden Ring's upcoming Shadow from the Erdtree DLC means new lore for that Lands Between and perhaps solidifies some connections between FromSoftware's latest titles and it is various spiritual predecessors.

Of course, as fans from the FromSoftware catalog and many recent Elden Ring might already be aware, the thought of connecting all of the developer's titles is usually seen as controversial. That being said, although it may not have been the intended canon for that Soulsborne series to any or all be connected, there is a lot that can be learned concerning the strength of the themes that FromSoftware designs into its games and lore by tracing these links across games.

A Rundown of Fan-Favorite FromSoftware Call-Backs

There exist several items and characters that appear across most FromSoftware titles, with a few being spiritually related yet others being directly pulled across all universes. Fans of Elden Ring's build variety and also the items that may boost them, such as the Blue Dancer Charm, might notice that the item's utility of growing damage at low equips load previously appeared as Dark Souls 3's Flynn's Ring. Starting small with things like this which have similar uses in and out of combat, FromSoftware clearly isn't against bringing concepts in one game to another, particularly if they're well-liked by fans.

On a far more specific note stuff that is directly lifted from one game to another would have to function as the Moonlight Greatsword and also the character Patches. A favorite among fans, the Moonlight Greatsword appears across many FromSoftware games, since the second King's Field, where it had been the final tool crafted through the White Dragon Seath to be able to defeat the Black Dragon Guyra. Patches, however, makes appearances like a cowardly enemy and trickster from dating back to the early Armored Core games, through Dark Souls and into Elden Ring.

A Look at Trees from Dark Souls' Great Hollow to Elden Ring's Erdtree

Apart from the items and utilities lifted from game to game, there's also a handful of themes that FromSoftware seems to be interested in spreading throughout its entire catalog. One of the most pronounced themes is trees, something that is usually used by the developer to point to life, decay, and also the gargantuan scope of the world that may otherwise go unseen.

Reaching too long before Elden Ring's Erdtree was the main focus of fans seeking out FromSoftware's sprinklings of lore, the very first Dark Souls introduces the presence from the Great Hollow, a huge tree the rest of Lordran seems to rest along with. Another strong tree theme appears in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, in which the Divine Dragon (a white dragon wielding a Korean variant of the Moonlight Greatsword) is depicted to both live inside a huge tree and become one using the natural obelisk.

Even the very first phase of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice's Divine Dragon fight includes pruning the unkempt roots so the full creature would lift with the clouds and fight the ball player head-on. These themes go much further into the design of the Divine Dragon because the enemy model itself is visible to have bark across its body to symbolize the life span that it gives, in addition, to rot underneath the bark to exhibit the decay that originated from being abused by its worshipers.

Finally, fields of trees appear all around the FromSoftware catalog, in the endless forest that extends out beyond Ash Lake in Dark Souls, towards the countless Erdtrees in the ultimate boss room against Elden Ring's Elden Beast. In more than one case, these expanses of giant trees almost seem to imply that there are other worlds compared to the ones that are explored inside the game they are. A prime example originates from Bloodborne because the Hunter's Dream as well as other Nightmare Frontiers appear to any or all be along with giant pillars or trees, with hundreds more within the distance that may house much more deities and greater wills.

Patches Could Be the Ultimate FromSoftware Deity

Circling to how Elden Ring can use the opportunities presented by Shadow from Erdtree's expected to search for Elden Ring lore, exploring this new DLC can lead to closure for many characters. This could include Patches, which has already had an impressively revealing questline in Dark Souls 3's DLC that shows the nature of the character and does some work to set up one common theory to connect to Bloodborne. In the case of Patches, he appears within the Ringed City DLC because of the friendly NPC Lapp, who'll help the ball player through boss fights and guide them toward the end of the adventure.

This change at Patches with the lens of Lapp reveals a remarkable amount concerning the character, as this seems to be a version of the trickster who hasn't become jaded by his experiences within the bleak, grimdark worlds of FromSoftware. It creates the backstabbing behavior for Patches across his many FromSoftware appearances, largely like a world-crossing figure who punishes the greedy and does whatever he is able to survive from one location to another.

More than anything though, it also creates a framework that every of these worlds as well as their deities only have led to ruin, which gives Patches the broader perspective to become distrustful through the time Elden Ring appears. From this interpretation of the character, Patches could function as the connecting thread that extends across all of those worlds, usually killing off faithful followers of respective deities until he finds the ball player willing to fight and kill these lords.

This perspective from Patches likewise helps to hit the consistent theme that the characters who covet power and employ it to rule, like Dark Souls' Gwyn or Elden Ring's Greater Will, are doomed to become usurped through the player. If so, Patches could function as the most influential estimate from the software's whole franchise, killing unworthy players and assisting proper god slayers.

elden ring items can be obtained now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.