Like with many of FromSoftware’s other titles, Elden Ring‘s exploration goes deeper than secret items and areas hidden in the world. To many players, understanding the lore of this game can feel like an adventure in of itself. The story behind early foes such as Godrick the Grafted can feel somewhat mysterious and unexplained. Defeating this tough boss is an impressive achievement, but some players might still be wondering about his identity – even with his Great Rune in their hands. Just who is Godrick, and how does he fit into Elden Ring’s lore?
Elden Ring Lore: Who is Godrick the Grafted?
Godrick is one of the demigods of the Lands Between, ruling over Limgrave. He’s technically the “final boss” of this area, serving as the greatest challenge players will encounter up to that point…as long as those players didn’t skip him entirely beforehand. He is weak to physical attacks and most status effects with the exception of madness and death blight. His movements are generally quite slow and telegraphed; his overall moveset is nowhere near as flashy or deadly as any other shardbearer. Godrick lives up to his title of the least-powerful demigod while still providing a great challenge to players not expecting it.
The lore behind Godrick is simpler than many other characters in Elden Ring, but there’s still quite a few secrets behind him to uncover. He, like many of the other demigods, claimed a piece of the Elden Ring for himself before being hounded from the capital. He took many treasures with him before leaving, including the Mimic’s Veil, which can be found in his castle. A gravestone in Limgrave details the defeat of Godrick during the Shattering, having been beaten into submission by Malenia. The NPC Kenneth Haight mentions this battle, alongside other events such as Godrick hiding amongst the fleeing women of the capital and sheltering himself from Radahn within Stormveil Castle.
It’s difficult to say when Godrick began his obsession with grafting, but one can assume it happened sometime after he left the capital. The throne he left behind in Leyndell is quite small compared to the one in Stormveil, where he currently rules. When facing off against him, he seems to almost share a connection with the various limbs he’s grafted onto himself. Godrick talks to the fallen dragon in his arena with respect, asking it to grant him strength. Interestingly, he’s not the first being in the Lands Between to perform grafting; a hidden boss found within an evergaol, Godefroy the Grafted, shares Godrick’s appearance. The connection Godefroy shares with Godrick is unknown, but the glaring similarities could imply that Godrick first obtained the idea of grafting from him.
Godrick’s obsession extends much further than grafting. He holds high respect for his forefathers, especially Godfrey, the first Elden Lord. It is later explained that Godrick’s bloodline is heavily diluted, making his status as a demigod much less impressive when compared to his brothers and sisters. Godrick uses the power of many to perform on par with other demigods because he cannot stand up to them on his own. This is well-reflected in gameplay, as Godrick is perhaps the easiest demigod to fight against. Defeating him is no easy task, but the shardbearers after him will provide even greater challenges.
Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
