Why Did Marika Create the Tarnished in Elden Ring?

In FromSoftware‘s expansive dark fantasy epic Elden Ring, the demigod Queen Marika‘s banishment of the great warriors who came before gave rise to the Tarnished – exiles stripped of the Erdtree‘s grace and forced to embark on their own path to power. But why did Marika create the Tarnished, and what greater purpose did she intend for these graceless warriors? This article aims to unpack Marika‘s potential motivations and goals in engineering the Tarnished as part of her long game against the Greater Will.

The Golden Order and the Elden Ring

To understand Marika‘s designs, we must first understand her role as vessel of the Elden Ring and hierophant of the Golden Order – the metaphysical order and religion of the Lands Between established by the cosmic being known as the Greater Will. As the Gloam-Eyed Queen, Marika defeated the giants and was granted a shard of the Elden Ring, becoming the first Elden Lord. The Greater Will tasked Marika with spreading the influence of the Erdtree across the realm.

The Elden Ring itself maintained this Golden Order, circulating golden runes that dictated the laws and fate of the Lands Between. Over time, Marika came to resent her subservience to the Greater Will and sought means to unseat its reign. But unable to directly oppose the cosmic entity, she hatched long-spanning schemes to nurture an opposing power.

Godfrey and the First Tarnished

Marika‘s beloved consort Godfrey, known first as Hoarah Loux, warrior chieftain of the badlands, was the Lands Between‘s first Elden Lord. With his prowess in battle and thirst for conquest, Godfrey helped Marika expand the Golden Order through bloody warfare against those who resisted the Erdtree‘s encroaching influence.

After defeating even the stormlord and stormking at the height of his power, Godfrey‘s warrior spirit waned as he ran out of worthy foes. Bereft of challenge, Godfrey seemingly lost the guidance of grace, as the hue faded from his eyes. Some item descriptions suggest Godfrey willfully abandoned grace, seeking a warrior‘s death in lands beyond Marika‘s reign.

Whatever the cause, Godfrey and his warriors were exiled from the Lands Between, cursed to live as Tarnished – their grace lost until they could prove themselves worthy once more. Godfrey became the first of the Tarnished, and Marika‘s banishment of the great champion set her schemes in motion.

A New Path Beyond Grace

Marika engineered the Tarnished as a new path of ascension beyond the confines of grace and the Erdtree. While most inhabitants of the realm gain power through grace and serving the Golden Order, the Tarnished must find strength without this divine guidance.

Cut off from the Greater Will‘s influence, Marika intended the Tarnished would hone their strength by other means – through runes, war, sorcery, faith or conquest. By robbing Godfrey and his knights of grace, she drove them to seek power unfettered by the Greater Will‘s designs.

We see this illustrated by in-game mechanics. While commoners lead peaceful lives sheltered by grace, Tarnished hoard runes from fallen foes, greedily gathering strength to increase their vigor, mind, endurance and other attributes independently of the Erdtree. The more runes a Tarnished accumulates, the more power they gain.

One young knight of House Marais seeking his lord describes the Tarnished‘s path:

"We accumulate strength to get ahead. That is the way of the Tarnished."

Spurning the Two Fingers

Tarnished who progress far enough in strength will be approached by the Two Fingers, envoys of the Greater Will sent to guide all lords and ladies of grace. Yet the Two Fingers‘ guidance ultimately leads back to the Erdtree and service to the Golden Order.

Marika scattered the Tarnished so they could stray from the Two Fingers‘ designs. By rejecting the Two Fingers‘ guidance, the Tarnished follow the path desired by Marika – away from the Greater Will‘s influence and towards a strength not bound by the limits of grace and the Golden Order.

Children of Rebellion

However, Marika‘s schemes bred unpredictable results. While some Tarnished realigned with her goals, many strayed in their own rebellious directions, their ambitions empowered by the strength cultivated outside the Erdtree‘s shelter.

Ranni the Witch‘s theft of the Rune of Death and orchestration of Godwyn the Golden‘s soul death enabled Marika to shatter the Elden Ring. But Ranni stole Destined Death to further her own desire to usher in an age unfettered by the Greater Will and Golden Order.

Meanwhile, the grafting demigod Godrick the Grafted seeks power through twisted experimentation, determined to prove himself worthy of becoming Elden Lord despite his "diluted" lineage.

Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy turned his back on grace to devour the ancient dragon god and institute a heretical reign of chaos. The Dung Eater seeks not to repair the Elden Ring, but saturate the order in curses.

While some children of Marika‘s schemes align with her motivation to unseat the Greater Will, many who arose from the Tarnished path formed their own philosophies and approach to power. Yet in their own way, they demonstrate the strength cultivated beyond grace‘s limits.

Preparing the God-Slaying Weapon

Further evidence of Marika‘s underlying motivation lies in her imprisoning of the Misbegotten Hewg deep below Leyndell, Elden Ring‘s grand capital. She charged this enslaved half-wolf with preparing a "god-slaying weapon", anticipating the arrival of a Tarnished champion mighty enough to repair the shattered Elden Ring and wield this blade against the Greater Will‘s remaining bindings on the realm.

Hewg dutifully carries out his task, awaiting the Tarnished‘s ascent to sufficient strength before he can temper the weapon‘s completion. That Marika prepared this weapon reveals she intended the Tarnished to grow mighty enough to slay their own god – the Greater Will itself.

Facilitating the Tarnished‘s Return

In-game mechanics also reinforce how Marika engineered the Tarnished path to facilitate the return of Tarnished to the Lands Between. The guidance of grace that faded from the Tarnished flickers once more, calling them to the realm when the Elden Ring shatters and destabilizes the Golden Order.

Sites of Marika allow Tarnished to revive upon death without losing their hard-earned runes, enabling steady progression. When Tarnished call helper phantoms to their side, it draws in the spirits of exiles who walked the path before them. As Yura, a Bloody Finger Hunter says:

"The graves of the exiles who were made Tarnished, attract them too. As the lightless flames did the exiles."

Even summoned cooperators lead back to NPC questlines regarding Marika and Ranni‘s rebellions. These mechanics serve Marika‘s aims – bringing Tarnished back to the realm so the mightiest among them can claim the fractured Elden Ring.

A New Elden Lord

Should a Tarnished manage to defeat the demigod heirs and amalgamate the Great Runes, they can follow in Godfrey‘s footsteps and become the new Elden Lord. Mending the Elden Ring to either repair or fully shatter it, they take Marika‘s place as vessel and consort.

No matter their choice regarding the Ring, this fulfills Marika‘s long game. A new Elden Lord severs her connection to the Greater Will completely as she passes the role to a successor of her own design. An Elden Lord who was not always guided by grace, but forged their own path to power at Marika‘s behest.

Conclusion: A Means to an End

Like all demigods and lords in Elden Ring, Marika‘s motivations and designs remain partially obscured, inviting speculation and debate. But the lore and in-game mechanics suggest Marika engineered the Tarnished as part of her long-spun schemes to eventually unseat the Greater Will‘s influence over the Lands Between and forge a new order no longer beholden to the Golden Order.

By stripping Godfrey and his warriors of grace, she drove them down an independent path not bound to the Erdtree‘s guidance. In doing so, Marika created fertile ground for the cultivation of powerful new philosophies and forces no longer aligned to the Greater Will‘s reign.

While many Tarnished strayed from Marika‘s specific desired path, they nonetheless embodied the strength and willingness to unlock power beyond grace‘s limits. The Tarnished were a means to an end – giving rise to Elden Ring‘s grandest champions and the successors capable of usurping Marika‘s role to usher in a new age.

Whether this was ultimately Marika‘s desired outcome remains ambiguous. But the Tarnished exist as the pivotal offspring of her far-spanning schemes and most valuable players on the board in her long game against the Golden Order‘s gods.