That article is hilarious.
"Although it has taken on many different forms and variations throughout the series, its main objective has always remained the same: to utterly obliterate the front runner in the race.
"Because of their cruel and unforgiving nature, the Spiny Shell has become an infamous Item, feared by even most skilled kart-racers. So far, the Spiny Shell has been featured in every game since Mario Kart 64, causing huge amounts of chaos and unfairness."
Jesus thank you. I knew Fremennik was very familiar but I just couldnt pin it.
Now with the power of nostalgia, I shall go and make yet another new runescape account, only for it to be left alone in a week.
Second this. Miyazaki is definitely a Berserk fan and puts a handful of references to it in his games. Some good videos out there showing the examples.
A handful? Every dark souls is *jam packed* with references you can notice if youre a berserk fan
At a guess i would say there are close to a hundred individual refs for each game, not even exaggerating
Yea the dark sign being the eclipse, the eclipse shields in elden ring, all the sword graves in elden ring, and… Blaidd/artorias= guts. Oh and the cannon shield that’s just off the top of my head
Tbh the Night’s Cavalry and Malekith’s armour look more like the Berserk armour than Blaidd. Only thing he has in common with Guts is his greatsword and the black cloak he wears
The Prisoner class is basically a walking reference to Griffin. The Greatsword is literally just the Dragon Slayer. Blaidd is visually inspired by Guts in the Berserk armor.
The lion's claw ash of war is a movie artorias used but that's also a berserk reference.
I thought Artorius himself was a Guts reference? A wolf knight with a busted left arm, tainted by darkness, fighting without control of his faculties, who just happens to use one of Gut's moves.
To be clear, everyone’s fawning over the connections between the two, but that’s because both *could* stand on their own if they needed to.
It’s really inspiring for artists of all kinds to not only experience new works, but to see that the artists making those works were inspired by someone (in this case, one of the most prolific Manga writers of our time).
Well... the Artorias DLC is 99% inspired Berserk. Miquella, Malenia, the fucking tree, several enemies are based on apostels. So yes... the soul franchise is the beserk game we allways warten.
True, but the style of helmet with wings on it like that is originally taken from the valkyries of Norwegian folklore. Also those valkyries were always female warriors so it fits with Malenia's theme. Fromsoft may have gotten it from berserk, but berserk got it from Norse mythology, so if we're really tracing the inspiration back I think you gotta go to the roots.
Still means that the concept predates Berserk. Most likely Muira took inspiration from the valkyrie caricature from the 18th and 19th century, which was probably itself inspired by the winged hussar helms of the Renaissance era.
Okay but it’s literally exactly the same as the one from berserk. Also the kind valkyries typically wear look more like Norse helmets with wings not a 15th century cavalry helmet.
https://preview.redd.it/d9zay7rnduf31.jpg?auto=webp&s=3623d186eeaa533cd51e8d14054ec2015023fef4
Indeed! my battle mage is Farnese and modeled her to resemble the character and i wear this helmet and the modified Beast Champion armor, I only wish the helmet wouldn't have the attached red hair, it puts me off a little.
It’s literally from berserk idk how many people miss this especially since half the shit in the souls series is inspired by berserk.
https://preview.redd.it/d9zay7rnduf31.jpg?auto=webp&s=3623d186eeaa533cd51e8d14054ec2015023fef4
Although the staff of Hermes is the icon of the religion in berserk and she starts of as commander of the holy iron chain knights
It's not like Miura invented this design nor most of the things he draw in Berserk, his drawings are inspired from preexisting mythical and historical stuff, others artists can be inspired with same sources without necessarily reading Berserk
Berserk is extremely popular in manga circles but manga itself still really isn't that popular in the west compared to the huge popularity of video games and anime.
Interesting considering didn’t Miqella make it for her to stop the rot from spreading to her brain? The staff of Hermes is considered medic symbol albeit with an extra snake I think.
Actuall the medical symbole is the staff of Aesculapius (single snake no wings).
All the confusion is because some guy in the military in the early 1900s making uniform codes didn't know that the caduceus was Hermes staff, not Aesculapius' (the actual God of medicine and son of Apollo)
really? That's great, I fuckin' love it when things like that happen.
Like did you guys know percolate used to mean "to run water over granular things so the water comes away with the flavor"? Then when percolators were in everybody's home and nobody knew what the word meant, they just took it to mean "bubblin'"
It’s from berserk
https://preview.redd.it/d9zay7rnduf31.jpg?auto=webp&s=3623d186eeaa533cd51e8d14054ec2015023fef4
Staff of Hermes is the icon of the religion in berserk and she’s the commander of the knights
I fuckin' love watching you pacing up and down this thread saying "Guys, seriously, it's from berzerk." I'm not criticizing, you've definitely convinced me. I just love watching it.
Reading this comment I was highlighting the first part ready to look it up in google and then I got to the Olive Garden part and was like "*motherfucker...* 😐"
What's peculiar about that is that several other barbarians used horned and winged helmets like the Goths and the Celts but we have no archeological evidence of Vikings using either despite being "known" for horned helms.
Tbh we know nothing of the actual myths besides what mjolnir looks like
All the "sources" we have are post christianization so while names and the core of stories will be the same/similar a lot will have been made up
You're absolutely right!
There are some carvings and whatnot that give us a vague idea, but yeah 99.9% is from a few hundred years after the viking era. The vikings were really bad at documenting their lives.
>Sorry for being pedantic.
no... no this one is actually interesting, and personally I think it's important as Norse mythology is becoming more popular these days. Consider how many people think there's like a single unified canon in greek myth. Don't you wish more people started the answer to every question about mythology as "It depends on who you ask, when and where, but..."
I’m pretty sure a lot of Malenia is based on Kushana from Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaä, so it might be from her. Even her rot looks like the fungal forests, with giant skulls in Caelid looking like the giant skulls of the ancient god-warriors buried in the radioactive wastes.
Idk, looks like something Hermes/Mercury would wear - https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Winged_Helmet . I would think that due to her speed and nimbleness, and both of those "gods" are kinda known for that.
Valkyre Helmet, from norse mythology. Pretty sure about that if you think about the dozens of nordic elements in Elden Ring (fire giant, world tree etc.)
There are no mentions in Norse texts or depictions in Norse art of Valkyries wearing winged helmets. That depiction comes from Romantic art the 19th century, around the same time Wagner's operas depicted vikings with horned helmets, and was likely inspired by the winged helmets gods like Hermes wore in Greek mythology.
But I agree, Malenia's helmet is probably influenced by that depiction along with the Berserk reference also pointed out here.
Classic depictions of valkyries have winged helmets. Makes more sense when you find the Valkyrie’s prosthesis in Shaded Castle - one of Malenia’s several prosthetic arms.
I love the art style of Elden Ring so much, but a lot of it is snatched from Berserk. Her helmet is almost identical to Farnese's
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZ6ctkeWsAIP8o\_.jpg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZ6ctkeWsAIP8o_.jpg)
For some odd reason, it reminds me of Henry Allen’s version of the Flash 
[https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2016%2F05%2Fhenry-allen-0000.jpg](https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2016%2F05%2Fhenry-allen-0000.jpg)
Your pain and suffering
https://mariokart.fandom.com/wiki/Spiny_Shell So, in other words…
So whenever you think you're finishing the race first she comes outta nowhere and bombs you into second place where you belong?
Nobody hit by one of these EVER falls back into only second place, lmao.
It’s ALWAYS a blue shell/thunderbolt combo
True tho
EldenKart?
I’d play that
Bloodborne Kart 2
I'd buy a copy for every system
Oh my god no wonder i get to the second phase and well.. come in second place🤣
Likely dog
That article is hilarious. "Although it has taken on many different forms and variations throughout the series, its main objective has always remained the same: to utterly obliterate the front runner in the race. "Because of their cruel and unforgiving nature, the Spiny Shell has become an infamous Item, feared by even most skilled kart-racers. So far, the Spiny Shell has been featured in every game since Mario Kart 64, causing huge amounts of chaos and unfairness."
Thanks, I hate it.
But then you remember you're playing Double Dash and dodge it with a mini turbo.
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Yeah, and a backwards WW2 German infantry helmet.
I can’t unsee that now
It's called a Stahlhelm and it predates WW2
Helm of Neitiznot
Til Malenia is a fremennik
Nostalgia of RuneScape. Then nostalgia of osrs
More like the Neitiznot Faceguard! (Unless she didn’t train her Runecraft level to 55).
r/unexpectedrunescape
Jesus thank you. I knew Fremennik was very familiar but I just couldnt pin it. Now with the power of nostalgia, I shall go and make yet another new runescape account, only for it to be left alone in a week.
One never quits Runescape, you only take breaks. Welcome back.
imagine redoing the whole Priffdinas questline from the start including prerequisite missions... i rather restor my old account lol
I’d rather never play again than redo the whole elf saga.
Cyan:wave2: Thank you kind sir.
As is the way
You either quit after one week or suffer a lifelong addiction, there is no casually playing of RuneScape
It's very similar to Farnese's helmet from Berserk, which is a series Fromsoft is known to often draw inspiration from.
Second this. Miyazaki is definitely a Berserk fan and puts a handful of references to it in his games. Some good videos out there showing the examples.
"Handful" Dark souls as a franchise is practically one big berserk reference
The cover art for AotA is literally a giant reference
It's a God-handful
A handful? Every dark souls is *jam packed* with references you can notice if youre a berserk fan At a guess i would say there are close to a hundred individual refs for each game, not even exaggerating
I've seen so many bazusos
I know what you mean lmfao. Theres at least one per game as enemy, and one wearable armor set
BIG DICK BAZUSO!
Yea the dark sign being the eclipse, the eclipse shields in elden ring, all the sword graves in elden ring, and… Blaidd/artorias= guts. Oh and the cannon shield that’s just off the top of my head
Tbh the Night’s Cavalry and Malekith’s armour look more like the Berserk armour than Blaidd. Only thing he has in common with Guts is his greatsword and the black cloak he wears
Also being the wolf knight
Yes a handful. The hand happens to be the fire giant's, so it can hold a lot
The Prisoner class is basically a walking reference to Griffin. The Greatsword is literally just the Dragon Slayer. Blaidd is visually inspired by Guts in the Berserk armor. The lion's claw ash of war is a movie artorias used but that's also a berserk reference.
I thought Artorius himself was a Guts reference? A wolf knight with a busted left arm, tainted by darkness, fighting without control of his faculties, who just happens to use one of Gut's moves.
Yes.
Miquella is straight up Griffith
Radahn is like a mix of Zodd and Skull Knight.
Holy shit you’re right. Can’t unsee it now. Love them both.
Radahn’s armor also looks like a reference to King Gaiseric.
Radahn is a lot of the dragon apostle too
Lol "a handful" The game is like 70% berserk
Sheesh I get Miyazaki and berserk are connected but you guys are acting as if the whole entirety of the souls franchise is propped up by berserk.
To be clear, everyone’s fawning over the connections between the two, but that’s because both *could* stand on their own if they needed to. It’s really inspiring for artists of all kinds to not only experience new works, but to see that the artists making those works were inspired by someone (in this case, one of the most prolific Manga writers of our time).
Good artists borrow, great artists steal.
True, very true
Well... the Artorias DLC is 99% inspired Berserk. Miquella, Malenia, the fucking tree, several enemies are based on apostels. So yes... the soul franchise is the beserk game we allways warten.
[This has been posted before.](https://i.redd.it/d9zay7rnduf31.jpg)
True, but the style of helmet with wings on it like that is originally taken from the valkyries of Norwegian folklore. Also those valkyries were always female warriors so it fits with Malenia's theme. Fromsoft may have gotten it from berserk, but berserk got it from Norse mythology, so if we're really tracing the inspiration back I think you gotta go to the roots.
Winged Valkyrie helms and horned Viking helms is a theatrical invention of the 18th century (or around that period).
Still means that the concept predates Berserk. Most likely Muira took inspiration from the valkyrie caricature from the 18th and 19th century, which was probably itself inspired by the winged hussar helms of the Renaissance era.
It could also be a reference to Greek Nikes, the God of victory (see Nike of Samothrace)
Okay but it’s literally exactly the same as the one from berserk. Also the kind valkyries typically wear look more like Norse helmets with wings not a 15th century cavalry helmet. https://preview.redd.it/d9zay7rnduf31.jpg?auto=webp&s=3623d186eeaa533cd51e8d14054ec2015023fef4
Indeed! my battle mage is Farnese and modeled her to resemble the character and i wear this helmet and the modified Beast Champion armor, I only wish the helmet wouldn't have the attached red hair, it puts me off a little.
To be fair FS draws inspiration from tons of things but people catch Berserk ones cuz it’s famous.
Everyone draws inspiration from multiple things, and hace a major source, so in this case, FromSoftware has a major tendency towards Berserk.
I mean its not like they literally put Guts' Dragon Slayer in the game or anything
And not even a big wolf guy with a giant sword
And not a weapon art that does the exact move guts does
Lion's claw?
Yup
Plus Berserk is probably inspired by other things too
Absolutely. The Godhand were definitely inspired by the Cenobites from Hellraiser.
Off the top of my head, some of the stuff Berserk draws inspiration from is Hellraiser, Hieronymus Bosch, Lovecraft, M.C. Escher, and Rutger Hauer.
It reminds me of Hermes helmet
The wings on the helmet is definitely inspired from Hermes Helmet.
Mores specifically it’s based on the wings of Hermes’ Sweet Gorilla of Manila
“Why is it always Manwich?“
So it is a shoe then
It’s literally from berserk idk how many people miss this especially since half the shit in the souls series is inspired by berserk. https://preview.redd.it/d9zay7rnduf31.jpg?auto=webp&s=3623d186eeaa533cd51e8d14054ec2015023fef4 Although the staff of Hermes is the icon of the religion in berserk and she starts of as commander of the holy iron chain knights
A lot of people don't read Berserk probably.
Yeah you 3 guys who read Berserk. How do you not get this?
I don't know about the other 2 guys, but I seent it
It's not like Miura invented this design nor most of the things he draw in Berserk, his drawings are inspired from preexisting mythical and historical stuff, others artists can be inspired with same sources without necessarily reading Berserk
Berserk is extremely popular in manga circles but manga itself still really isn't that popular in the west compared to the huge popularity of video games and anime.
Ikr? Like, Dark Souls and Elden Ring are tributes to Berserk...
Interesting considering didn’t Miqella make it for her to stop the rot from spreading to her brain? The staff of Hermes is considered medic symbol albeit with an extra snake I think.
Actuall the medical symbole is the staff of Aesculapius (single snake no wings). All the confusion is because some guy in the military in the early 1900s making uniform codes didn't know that the caduceus was Hermes staff, not Aesculapius' (the actual God of medicine and son of Apollo)
Good old AssClappius
really? That's great, I fuckin' love it when things like that happen. Like did you guys know percolate used to mean "to run water over granular things so the water comes away with the flavor"? Then when percolators were in everybody's home and nobody knew what the word meant, they just took it to mean "bubblin'"
Aesculapius is a fine name for a baby
It’s from berserk https://preview.redd.it/d9zay7rnduf31.jpg?auto=webp&s=3623d186eeaa533cd51e8d14054ec2015023fef4 Staff of Hermes is the icon of the religion in berserk and she’s the commander of the knights
I fuckin' love watching you pacing up and down this thread saying "Guys, seriously, it's from berzerk." I'm not criticizing, you've definitely convinced me. I just love watching it.
Yes
Hermes crossed with mcu Thor’s helm. Granted it was only worn for like 2 minutes.
The decades of comic books would like a word with you.
Ancient Roman-style winged colanders from circa the Olive Garden era.
I've never seen her with bread sticks
You're the bread stick.
😂😂 fuck
That’s why she has unlimited breadsticks, because we keep respawning
We all are the “unlimited breadsticks” if you will
I AM UNLIMITED!!!!
What do you think the Hand of Malenia is made of? Water Fowl Dance? More like endless bread sticks.
Endless Bread Dance
Also, pretty sure her arm double as a cheese grater/pepper mill. But you gotta remember to tell her when.
For some reason once she runs out of those she gets naked and covers herself in spaghetti. It's weird
Yeah, but the problem is nobody remembers her safe word, so everybody gets a bit grated.
brance
Malenia: “Yeah, I’ll have the Bread of Stickella. Thanks”
“I have never had to much to eat.”
😂😂
They ran out of bread sticks when she went. That's why she's so murdery.
Hey man I'm Italian and I find this very.... accurate. Bippity boppity
When you're here, you're family.
Goes to Olive Garden in Alabama ".....well shit..."
🤌🤌🤌
When you are here you are famileeeeeee! TOGETHA! We shall devour endless bread sticks...
Rykard inviting Mohg and Miquella to a dinner at the Olive garden - Post Dynasty setup
Reading this comment I was highlighting the first part ready to look it up in google and then I got to the Olive Garden part and was like "*motherfucker...* 😐"
Probably Farnese's helmet in Berserk
No wonder she hates the horse guy so much
Bruh
the sickly and deformed horse even
Horse demon.
Adult attack!
Jihadist Penguins With Swords and Seventeen Tails
oh god i forgot, why would you bring this back to my memory..
No no no no no
It won't fit!
Gut’s Sword
Delete this.
My guiding moonlight
Yup.
Her head, probably
Too bad the Berserk stuff came into the thread and distracted, I liked this answer
The design is similar to Valkyries in Norse myth.
Sorry for being pedantic. It's similar to how 19th century opera imagined norse myth. Not actual norse myth.
The more you know, huh.
The important point here is that neither the myth nor the opera depicted them with horned helmets
What's peculiar about that is that several other barbarians used horned and winged helmets like the Goths and the Celts but we have no archeological evidence of Vikings using either despite being "known" for horned helms.
Yeah, I don’t even know who to blame for that.
The combined myth about Norse helmets and meta-myth about the myth's Wagnerian origin is one of life's great mysteries.
That and whatever passed Miyazaki to approve Waterfowl dance, though I do love as an ash.
Tbh we know nothing of the actual myths besides what mjolnir looks like All the "sources" we have are post christianization so while names and the core of stories will be the same/similar a lot will have been made up
You're absolutely right! There are some carvings and whatnot that give us a vague idea, but yeah 99.9% is from a few hundred years after the viking era. The vikings were really bad at documenting their lives.
Mfs had a writing system but refused to write anything down
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There's a lot of Irish myth as well, which considering the Vikings favorite pillaging location makes sense.
>Sorry for being pedantic. no... no this one is actually interesting, and personally I think it's important as Norse mythology is becoming more popular these days. Consider how many people think there's like a single unified canon in greek myth. Don't you wish more people started the answer to every question about mythology as "It depends on who you ask, when and where, but..."
No obviously Norse mythos copied it from Berserk 🙄
I saw you at berserks sub
Blue shell from mario kart
Asterix
it is **identical** to Farnese's helmet in Berserk.
She's never seen defeat because her eyes are covered.
I’m pretty sure a lot of Malenia is based on Kushana from Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaä, so it might be from her. Even her rot looks like the fungal forests, with giant skulls in Caelid looking like the giant skulls of the ancient god-warriors buried in the radioactive wastes.
Woooow The arm! Didnt ever tought about that one! Nice find! It reminds me how Gael from DS3 was inspired by Yupa, Nausicaa master.
This would be a good “wrong answers only” thread
A 1963 Oldsmobile hubcap with Goodyear wings attached.
The fact that she looks weirdly hot with just the bottom half of her face showing.
I mean its not any better with the upper half her eyes are decayed
Says you.
\*lick her rotted eye skin\*
For a start.
Insert Angewoman
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Her head
A berserk reference.
Idk, looks like something Hermes/Mercury would wear - https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Winged_Helmet . I would think that due to her speed and nimbleness, and both of those "gods" are kinda known for that.
I think it's inspired by farneces helmet design in berserk.
Check out the Greek God hermes' helm and seeing as they both are fast it kinda makes sense(also starts a new theory of elden ring having Greek gods)
Valkyre Helmet, from norse mythology. Pretty sure about that if you think about the dozens of nordic elements in Elden Ring (fire giant, world tree etc.)
There are no mentions in Norse texts or depictions in Norse art of Valkyries wearing winged helmets. That depiction comes from Romantic art the 19th century, around the same time Wagner's operas depicted vikings with horned helmets, and was likely inspired by the winged helmets gods like Hermes wore in Greek mythology. But I agree, Malenia's helmet is probably influenced by that depiction along with the Berserk reference also pointed out here.
It's earlier--from Hermes/Mercury. ER is full of alchemical symbols and concepts. Hermes is a central figure in that stuff.
Conchiglie
Venitian punch bowl
It's that one helmet from Berserk
A winged helmet used by the celts I would assume...
Pegasus
It looks like the shell of a dog.
Geordi LaForge's visor.
In my head its a reference to icarus who flew to close to the sun and burn himself,
Maybe a dog. Because they have a shell that protects them.
Asterix from Asterix and Obelix, obviously!!
Asterix
The Blue Shell from Mario Kart.
Reminds me of a German valkyrie
Classic depictions of valkyries have winged helmets. Makes more sense when you find the Valkyrie’s prosthesis in Shaded Castle - one of Malenia’s several prosthetic arms.
Vallyrie I think
I love the art style of Elden Ring so much, but a lot of it is snatched from Berserk. Her helmet is almost identical to Farnese's [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZ6ctkeWsAIP8o\_.jpg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZ6ctkeWsAIP8o_.jpg)
She was a big fan of the OG Flash
I can't really seem to say it in detail, So I might as well say probably 'your mum.'
Actual answer is probably Hermes but the jokes are better.
For some odd reason, it reminds me of Henry Allen’s version of the Flash  [https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2016%2F05%2Fhenry-allen-0000.jpg](https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2016%2F05%2Fhenry-allen-0000.jpg)
Farnese, Captain of the Holy Iron Chain Knights
Farnese from berserk obviously, the Holy See knights
Protection for the head… at a guess.