It’s no secret that Hidetaka Miyazaki and From Software have been heavily inspired by the acclaimed manga, Berserk, from the late Kentaro Miura. From Dark Souls and Bloodborne to Elden Ring, there are plenty of references and Easter eggs to Berserk to show the studio’s appreciation for the manga. That’s no different for the upcoming Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. Fans began digging through the new trailer find all the Berserk references and we’ve compiled some below.
Elden Ring is no stranger to including references to Berserk. We already detailed some guides on how to acquire the Greatsword in the game; its design directly lifted from Guts’ sword in Berserk. Some armour pieces also complement the build to turn you into the black swordsman – or at least the closest version of the manga counterpart. However, Shadow of the Erdtree drops a few more references that you might’ve missed.
Firstly, Twitter/X user fedor_hmm shows a clip from the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer featuring an armour set that strongly resembles that of the one worn by Guts, including his signature rapid-fire hand crossbow:
Achei uma Berserk Reference no trailer de Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree pic.twitter.com/muxjNBxt2N
— Fedor #GTAVI (@fedor_hmm) February 21, 2024
User Xekus shows a new enemy/boss from the trailer that also seems loosely inspired by a similar Berserk foe:
Miyazaki seems to still take inspiration from berserk and use the ideas for elden ring, god bless him.
Both him and Miura is and was one of the greatest creative minds to live. pic.twitter.com/T2L7jcla0o— Xekus (@Xekus) February 21, 2024
User koskocabk reveals some striking similarities in the helmet designs of the Flame Dragon Knight from Berserk and Messmer The Impaler:
Coincidence? I think not!#ELDENRING #Berserk #gamingcommunity pic.twitter.com/RdrMXc1Oh4
— Baruto-Kun (@koskocabk) February 21, 2024
TheAngryBIond highlighted the design of a character (potential boss?) from Shadow of the Erdtree‘s trailer that also bears some similarities to the queen of Midland:
👀 #EldenRing #Berserk pic.twitter.com/Qny96rU8Wh
— 𝙵𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚕 (@TheAngryBIond) February 21, 2024
Finally, there’s Miquella, a character still shrouded in mystery and unseen in the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer except for his cocoon state. However, the trailer describes him as “pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying.” Cryptic depictions of Miquella in Elden Ring have also shown a beautiful male character with flowing shining hair. That sounds an awful lot like Griffith, right? Pointed out by user Dan_trvlr:
HE’S COMING https://t.co/YulSnmAJ8O pic.twitter.com/LBE1CCdXHE
— El Dan 😎🤙 (@Dan_trvlr) February 20, 2024
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree launches on 21 June 2024 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.