Elden Ring - The strangest boss in the DLC 

According to Miyazaki, Messmer's existence and the history of the Land of Shadow was written before development on the base game even started, still building off GRRM's writings. The idea the colosseums may once have foreshadowed the backstory of the DLC is both entirely possible and also somewhat staggering to think about, and then it's even more bizarre that they removed that little hint anyway.

Not a phone in sight, just 2 buff man on top of each other, living in the moment

Do you think the guy in the front half of the Lion ever accidentally smashed his fingers in the teeth?

Just some insight about lion dance as a tradition, the dancer playing the hind of the lion is the more senior and adept one. It takes years of practice and more skill and stamina to make the body of the lion keep up with the movement of the head.

This boss must've been a nightmare to animate but by god they did a truly amazing job.

Holy shit, the fact that under the Golden Order they recreated the great crusade in the colosseum for entertainment, just like the romans did as well. I love this game omg

Didn't expect there to be only 2. Thought there would at least 3 fellas in there, one for each element.

Apparently the elden beast is 5 people in a costume

“…cruelty is only circling back on them like their beloved spiral” cold asf 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Dancers are definitely horned themselves. Item descriptions of the Horned Knight weapons state that Sculpted Keepers are elevated from within their ranks. Curseblades may also be dancers that don’t make the cut.

I also appreciate how the hitbox for the boss is also just the two guys inside. Often I was attacking the middle of the lion, and doing no damage because I was hitting just the cloth of the costume and neither of the guys under it 😅

Fightning this thing is like fighting the Ulcerated Tree Spirit if it did 4 lines of cocaine and gave the camera a simultaneous seizure, heart attack and concussion

Just like in ancient Rome certain gladiator types symbolized certain group of people that the Roman empire faced during their wars and similarly the guardian lions and the gladiators probably meant to reanact the war between Messmer and the Hornsent.

When it does the 360 breath you can literally see the second dude platforming for the head guy

Personally my favorite dlc boss, I just love the idea behind its design.

I like how the second Lion Dancer implies that Deathblight is a natural weather pattern in the Realm of Shadow. "Tonight's forecast is cloudy with a chance of Blight, stay indoors to keep safe from raining Basilisks."

I love the feeling, I have never noticed the lion and the snake matchup, but now it is as if we could see something mystical reiterate itself in different universes.

Also not mentioned here is that a 2nd Dancing Lion appears as a Field boss in Rauh. It's mostly the same boss, but it can use Deathblight and can summon Basilisks from out of nowhere. Hope you'll wrap your head on how they are able to wield Death like that

Fromsoftware never ceases to amaze me with there characters designs

seeing this boss instantly made me think "yeah zullie's gonna have to explain this one."

'i'm not going heavy tonight, just one or two beers' me and bro at 4am in the kitchen 20 beers deep

i really do like the twist on "chinese lion dance" they did here. the way the jaws crack when they close is oddly satisfying

Those sword lions are absolutely the same species as the Divine Beast. Their face looks a little different because it's an old ass mask made from their skin lol

“The Hornsent aren’t blameless, and cruelty is only circling back on them like their beloved spiral.” 🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥

This boss phases through different elements based on the music, truly a performance

Ok that shot in the video of the colosseum fight with Messmer and the divine beast behind them is SICK, perfect visualization, and great vid, these lore tidbits are sooo coooool

Hornsent lore was interesting to learn about; especially in relation to how awful they treated the Shamans/Numens. Bonney Village/Gaol, and specimen storage are gonna live in my head rent free. Horrifying stuff really lol

It actually explains why we can wear the head as a helmet. Because it is a headwear.

I'm a Malaysian Chinese who grew up watching a lot of lion dances. And it impressed me that the animation of the two dancers under the costume is pretty accurate to the real lion dance, even the one where the front guy stands on the shoulders of the back guy to appear taller. I'm so happy to see a traditional dance represented in Elden Ring. ^^

I think it's incredibly cool that bother of them are modeled beneath the costume despite never being able to see then in game. A bit creepy to see this way though. This was probably my favorite boss of the DLC, it was so unique and also I love the music!

The fact that one of the most insane bosses isn’t a deformed grafted undead lion, and it’s just 2 cosplayers is nuts

It should also be noted that the Duelists also only have one eye, the right eye. same as Messmer

I knew it was some kind of "puppet" boss but i wouldn't have guessed that it was literally just a couple of homies that were wrecking my shit that whole time

That giant pot in front of the colliseum raises a LOT more questions from me now.

More importantly, hit the rear dude, who is vulnerable.

Ohh yes Im so ready for this new wave of DLC content

That is one of the most badass boss designs. Thank you for showing this. Amazing work as always.

when i first fought the divine beast, i saw the hands close the jaw shut and just couldn’t stop thinking about it through the whole fight, such a cool explanation/backstory.

Without forgetting that he is possibly one of the best bosses with one of the best background soundtracks.

THE POSTENING

i really figured it being 2 guys puppeteering would more visibly come up, like a phase 2 thing or a more unique death animation. with nothing like that happening i wondered if it were possible a minor case of grafting or just an odd ascended being in costume. no matter what i believed it was a costume, but im surprised they played with the idea as straight- forward as they did.

The dancers being called Sculpted Keepers has me wondering if they were statues brought to life. They’re inert until the old woman begins her incantation, after all.

The Hornsent are just one more cosmic case of “fucked around and found out”

love the head, and love that theres a smaller version of it

“Cruelty is only circling back on them like their beloved spiral.” Damn thats a cold line right there.

Interesting how the lions in the base game, like a lot of Omens, have had their horns removed.

War Lion enemy locations… Stormveil: Wind and Lightning Redmane Castle: Brute Strength Castle Sol: Blizzard Sounds similar enough.

Don’t know if you know this, but if you look at the description of the “Divine Beast Armor and Helm” which drops from the warrior enemy in Enir-Ilum, it states that the sculpted keepers are the best of the best of the Divine Beast warriors….who stem from the horned warriors……who stem from the hornsent. So yes, that’s the answer to your question.

Lion dance was introduced to Japan from China. The design appears to be based on the Japanese style lion dance (獅子舞/Shishi-mai).

Get a notification Zullie uploaded, I watch immediately.

My first thought when fighting this thing was hoping you'd make a video like this, thank you! I'm really looking forward to your upcoming videos and getting a closer look at the details

The last part about the colosseum is spot on; every year during the summer solstice, a 100 day celebration was hosted in the amphitheater-free to all citizens of Rome. This was seen as important as it was a direct act of the Emperor bestowing entertainment and the wealth of the to his subjects. Beasts including lions and Elephants were brought from conquered lands as a show of the Empires military prowess, and battles/beast hunts were staged to show the average citizen the tales of glory the Legions displayed in far off lands. These battles were a spectacle, with great details not only of the Roman forces, but that of their enemies as well. These bouts were meant to show the clashes outside of Rome-with hopefully the Roman-adorned gladiator coming out victorious. Should the foreign-adorned one win, it was to show the threat of neighboring enemies, and further show the perseverance of the Legions in defeating such a threat

Thank Zullie, i've been dying to see what was under the hood as it were of this magnificent bastard(s)

How cool would it have been if you had the possibility to "cripple" the lion by killing one of the dancers?

Lion dances are common where i live, so when i first saw this boss i could not stop smiling. Every detail from the way it "stands" to whenever it shakes its head are so cool to see.

I was _super_ waiting for this video and was not disappointed. TY Zullie

There are statues of the lions in natural form in various places and a possibly taxidermized one in the Specimen Storehouse Edit: nvm on the storehouse. None of those look like lions after all

I'm not so sure if the lions from the base game are meant to have any relation to the Divine Beast. The dialogue from the Grandam seems to imply that the Divine Beast is a supernatural entity, and that the dancers are actually vessels for it. In this respect, the Divine Beast we fight actually is real, but it doesn't have a physical form, and relies on a host, much like the Fell God, who can only manifest itself through the Fire Giants.

I never played Elden Ring or any Souls (?) games but I enjoy the short-form, efficiently informative styles of your videos. The length and the intriguing titles make them really easy to binge watch.

Damn nice catch at the end Zullie And also the dedication to carefully animate those 2 guys even thought pretty much no one is going to see that. Impressive

Umm, Zullo, I'm afraid of strange bosses 😢

They are called "Sculpted Keepers" and their bodies have a grey, stone appearance. The visibility of the arm veins during the start of the cutscene reminded me of David and other Renaissance sculptures. I wonder if they literally are supposed to be stone? The "Tutelary Deities" we get Revered Spirit Ash from also seem to be made of stone. And the Curseblades (which are described as those who failed to become Tutelary Deities) have grey skin as well. I wonder if some Hornsent ritual involves turning to stone? The Tower also has those stone bodies incorporated into it.

I’m glad you pointed to the connection with the guardian lions. I might have totally missed it! The divine beast is definitely one of my new favorite souls bosses!

The snake-clad duelists and enslaved divine beasts is very on point for historical gladiatorial combat. Often, people weren't just being thrown into a pit for bloodsport, but rather they were doing mythical or historical cosplay, reenacting famous battles for the amusement of the audience. In that light, the match makes perfect sense; the duelists and lions would've been reenacting Messmer's crusade in miniature.

Short and simple, one of your best videos yet. Nice work!

I can’t believe the dancers’ movements actually make sense when you strip away the puppet, that’s such incredible attention to detail.

I don't normally put too much stock in cut content but hoooly shit what a good catch there with the duelist vs lion symbolism.

As soon as I heard about this boss I knew that this video was coming. So nice to finally be able to watch it. Thank you Zullie! 😄

the tie-in to the duelists and blade lions in the base game is nuts

It's crazy they had two full models for the puppeteers. I just imagine the devs saying "this ones for Zullie" as the made them

Not gonna lie Zullie I've been waiting on you making this video since the trailer, thank you so much!

Amazing! I hadn't made the connection between the divine beasts and the Lions, and the shots you got there at the end were amazing. Love your work Zullie!

I cannot wait for you to dig into some of the stuff from this DLC! There is so much to go over!

I thought that thing moved weirdly. Had no clue it was actual a disguise, great design

As someone who lives in a region where lion dances are a very common thing, it makes me super stoked to see people who have no idea this even exists find out about it even through a fantasy setting. We even have lion dance competitions from time to time and no, they NEVER get old. another cool aspect of it is the music. I highly implore people to just look up lion dance videos. It's not just the sheer stamina and strength involved, it's details like being able to make the lion blink or wiggle their ears or tail via strings in there WHILE they're in the middle of all this crazy choreography. And the butt wiggles... Those are the best!

"cruelty is only circling back on them like their beloved spiral" 🔥✍️

I'm so glad I got this recommended on my main page again, now I can't wait for more videos to release about more bosses and things of the DLC to spend hours watching stuff about elden ring lore 😭

Some important lore details from item descriptions were missed in this video: The Dancing Lion are Horned Warriors who got the privilege to be turned into Sculpted Keepers (the puppet) that will channel the Divine Beast’s spirit in them. They are not two conscious people puppeting but one conscious spirit of the Divine Beast of heaven which seems to be a godly figure to the hornsent. The chained lion is just a Crucible/Omen/Hornsent lion which Golden Order would enslave and is Not the Divine Beast of the hornsent.

This fight was really difficult, but i really love this boss design (and soundtrack) And this video enhances even more my appreciation of the character. Honestly the animations for the two little fellas in there is just great!

Love these, always so fascinating the minute details!

was really looking forward to this video! thank you for all the hard work!!

I love these videos where I don't learn many new informations, but the combination and the linking of many independant findings reveal something that makes you go "Oh right, of course !"

>hires divine lion for show >looks inside >people

I really love seeing the lion dance in every new year, they're fun to watch. In the Chinese folklore the Lion is actually called Nian or Year Beast, this Nian would eat children and disturb other people's livestock, so the celestial being from the heaven came to the village help them giving 3 hints to fight against the Nian that is 'any thing that are red color', 'some bright lights' and 'some firecrackers'. As new year approach again, the Nian appeared but was not prepare that the people in the village figured out its weakness, everyone was wearing red color dress and the Nian has erythrophobia or fear the color of red. All the streets was filled with lanterns with the bright color of red, which make the Nian dizzy and can't use it's nigh vision correctly, so when it goes near the children or the people's livestock, they begin to throw some firecrackers at the Nian to scare it away. Finally, the Nian flee into the forest and decide to eat other thing for the time being but every new year it will always come to taste the human flesh.

As soon as i saw the trailer i was waiting for this video, thanks!

The dialogue of the old woman in Belurat that plays during the boss cutscene may indicate that the spirit of a divine beast is actually possessing the bodies of these two hornsent, effectively using them to "come back to life" and defend the keep.

Thank you, Zullie! I'm an old man now and have to watch your videos with my glasses at 75% speed because I can't keep up with the text speed like I used to, but I still love all the lore, perspective and detail you provide! ❤

"Cruelty is only circling back on them like their beloved spiral." That was pretry poetic, Zullie.

Snap. Zullie throwing some shade at the end there I see 😂

Don't forget that the second lion dancer can invoke the power of deathblighy

As soon as I saw this boss, I became excited for this moment: having layers stripped away, so we can see the mostly-unseen animations. Thank you for making videos like this.

The idea here is that the people (sculpted keepers) under the 'costume' become possessed by the spirit of something from a higher plane. This is supported by dialogue with the hornsent grandam. Thus, those helms disturb focus when the player character wears them.

I've been waiting for this :) thank you!

Fun fact is that there was no lion in east asia where lion dancing was done(Japan, Korea, China). Lion was more of a myth from far west such as India. Strangely, while lions are found in the Lands between, there is no animal that resembles a lion in the Shadow realm.

I completely forgot that the lions had horns, that’s an insane detail in retrospect

I did not have "DLC makes me feel sympathy for Marika" in my 2024 bingo card

This is the video I have been waiting for sinceplaying the dlc

Lol thank you so much. The first time I saw this boss I was like "wonder whats in there" and hoped you would make a vid on it XD

New DLC, new massive dragon for Zullie to compare.

I never even thought about connecting the different lions together. Great work! 😮