The Tarnished of Elden Ring have a lot of blood on their hands, even if they try their best to refrain from violence. Certain NPCs' quest lines will force players to kill other characters in the game, such as the Volcano Manor jobs. But in other quest lines, players will have to make game-changing decisions with little information to the options they are given. And while some of these choices can seem insignificant and even benign, the mistakes a player makes can lead to the horrid deaths of the Tarnished's closest friends.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Elden Ring.]
In some cases, players are not even given the option spare or kill. Blaidd, as Elden Ring's most tragic character, is destined to go mad because he is a Shadow of an Empyrean who chooses to not fulfill her destiny, and he thus must be put to rest. Iji, too, dies as a consequence of his own accident, as he thought that trying to hold Blaidd in an Evergaol would be the best way to both protect Ranni and keep Blaidd alive. In both of these instances, the Tarnished has little say in matters of right and wrong because NPCs are either destined to perish or have their own histories to answer for.
But in other questlines, the Tarnished is absolutely at fault for the deaths of NPCs, and in some case, they can be cursed to something even worse than death. Completing a simple favor can either lead to three beloved characters dying or to an innocent demi-human transforming into ephemeral, lifeless vessel. To help prevent Elden Ring's Tarnished from making huge mistakes that result in death, here is a list of NPCs who can accidentally die as a result of the player's choices.
Sorceress Sellen Has A Horrifying Death In Elden Ring
Sorceress Sellen's ambitions in Elden Ring are to overthrow the Carian Royal family and claim the Raya Lucaria Academy. The Tarnished may assist her in this mission in recompense for the sorcery training she provides. However, in her quest line's final moments, players are faced with one last important decision: Do they stop her and fight her to the death alongside Jerren, or do they overthrow Raya Lucaria with her by defeating Jerren, the Academy's final line of defense?
For those who choose to stick by Sellen's side and fight Jerren, there is unfortunately no way to prevent her eventual demise. After defeating Jerren and resting at the Raya Lucaria Grand Library Site of Grace, the Tarnished will find Elden Ring's Queen of the Full Moon Rennala still there despite Jerren's defeat. Then, to the left, they will see the horrid thing Sellen has been transformed into: a grotesque stone ball of magical masks groaning in agony. Ultimately, to help Sellen in Elden Ring is to doom her to a tragic fate.
Do Not Help Elden Ring's Tragic Boc
Boc is one of the few pleasant NPCs in Elden Ring who has neither a bloodthirsty hunger for power or a hostile attitude toward the Tarnished. Instead, he is a modest demi-human seamster who has the singular desire to be loved and appreciated by others. His questline involves helping him build confidence in himself through his sewing and reconnecting him to his late mother, who was also a tailor. Though this mission is small in scope, even Malenia would commend the player for doing something so pure.
This is what makes accidentally killing Boc one of the most regrettable things players can do in Elden Ring. Near the end of his quest line, the Tarnished can help Boc gain a Larval Tear so that he can visit Rennala and be reborn as a human. Boc's hope - along with the player's - is that he can find self-worth in a new body. However, what ends up happening is that Boc becomes a feeble being who perishes very quickly after being reborn.
Thops Should Have Never Gone To Raya Lucaria In Elden Ring
Thops's storyline in Elden Ring is brief and tragic. The weak sorcerer the Tarnished finds after defeating Godrick in Stormveil Castle only wants to attend the Academy of Raya Lucaria to enhance his magic skills. However, he has been locked out and can find no entry into its great halls.
The Tarnished can choose to help him, but doing so will ultimately result in his death. See, Thops was disregarded as a sorcerer and scholar at Raya Lucaria, and he was even given the nickname "Thops the Bluntstone" by Elden Ring bullies. It thus appears that he would be treated with hostility upon returning to the school that banished him, and indeed, the Tarnished will find his corpse at a table after giving him an Academy Glintstone. The saddest part about his story is that on Thops's body is a spell (Thops's Barrier) that proves he was on the path to discovering a whole new branch in the Sorcery school of magic.
Nepheli Loux Turns Into A Puppet In Elden Ring
There are few characters like Nepheli Loux in Elden Ring: She is honorable, courageous, and hopes to reach small yet concrete goals to make the Lands Between a safer place for Tarnished. Players help her in this mission by not only helping her claim the throne of Stormveil Castle but also guiding her toward such a goal. Her father, Elden Ring's Roundtable Hold leader Gideon the All-Knowing, disowns her after she helps the Albinaurics, leading her to feel directionless and without purpose. But in actuality, she may be the only person capable of making the Lands Between a safer place.
Part of the Ranni questline can completely sabotage Nepheli Loux's story in Elden Ring, however. One of her followers, Seluvis, will at one point send the Tarnished on a mission to give Nepheli a potion he has created. If the player completes this task without questioning what this potion does, Nepheli Loux loses her autonomy and essentially becomes a puppet to Seluvis.
Blackguard Big Boggart's Curse In Elden Ring
When the Tarnished first meets Blackguard Big Boggart in Elden Ring, the two are not necessarily on good . Players likely only become aware of who Boggart is after meeting Rya, who informs the Tarnished that Boggart stole her necklace. But just as Rya turns out to have darker affiliations Elden Ring's Volcano Manor, Boggart reveals himself to be a reasonable and charming NPC who loves his prawns, despite his criminal past.
This makes it all the more tragic when his worst nightmare becomes reality all because the player lets out the Dung Eater. Boggart was once a prisoner like the Dung Eater, and he thus has firsthand knowledge of the way the Roundtable member tortures his victims and defiles their corpses. He thus warns the Tarnished to not go anywhere near him, and for those who do not heed his warning, they will find that Boggart will pay for their mistakes, as the Dung Eater murders him in order to plant a Seedbed Curse.
D, Rogier, & Fia Die Because Of The Tarnished In Elden Ring
Elden Ring's Fia the Deathbed Companion's questline is one that is wrapped in secrecy from the start. The NPC who grants the player a blessing with each of her embraces asks the player if she could return a weathered dagger to its owner, and this small, seemingly innocent act feels like an easy way to repay her. However, the handing of this dagger to D then catapults Fia, Rogier, and D into a series of situations that results in all of their deaths.
Handing D the dagger seems to confirm Fia's suspicions of him and his twin brother as hunters of Those Who Live in Death. Because Fia works for Elden Ring's Prince of Death, she kills D for this reason. She appears to kill him using Death itself, as thorns cover his body. These same thorns cover Rogier's legs, meaning he also must have been affected and killed with Death Blight by researching Black Knifeprints with Fia and sleeping with her. While Rogier knew that his association with Fia and Death would lead to his own end, it is the player's enabling of Fia and Rogier that leads to his and D's deaths.
The Tarnished also accidentally enables D's twin brother to kill Fia. The player does this by delivering D's twin the Twinned Armor, leading him to kill Fia in revenge after her questline is completed. By simply delivering the broken knife to D, the Tarnished kicks off a chain of dominos that ends with the fall of Fia, Rogier, and D in Elden Ring.
While the Tarnished should not be too hard on themselves for any inadvertent mistakes they make, the consequences of their actions can be deadly for Elden Ring's NPCs. The Lands Between are harsh, and they judge their inhabitants harshly. While the game's design can stop players from making significant decisions or making them unawares, Elden Ring's cause-and-effect storytelling approach remains impactful a major part of the game's appeal.
