Elden Ring’s Caelid vs. Berserk’s Eclipse

Elden Ring introduces an area around its mid-game known as Caelid. Unlike previous regions, Caelid is a squalid, disgusting place, the result of Malenia the Severed harnessing the power of the poisonous Scarlet Rot to curse her half-brother Starscrouge Radahn during the all-encompassing war that followed the Shattering of the Elden Ring

It’s okay if none of this makes sense to you because I’m barely able to comprehend Elden Ring’s lore after an entire month of playing it.

The important thing is how Caelid resembles the landscape of the Eclipse, a phenomenon that occurs in Berserk upon the rare induction of a new member to the God Hand, a group of god-like demons. Guts and the Band of the Hawk are drawn into this ceremony by their supposed friend and leader Griffith, who wishes to join the God Hand to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming ruler of his own, world-spanning kingdom.

What the Eclipse does is basically open a portal to an alternate plane of existence, wherein the God Hand receives the inductee’s sacrifices (in Griffith’s case, his Band of the Hawk soldiers) and transforms them into a demonic entity. Those unfortunate enough to be taken to this dimension are welcomed by a vast, bloody expanse inhabited by hellish creatures, which is pretty much how I’d describe what awaits Elden Ring players in Caelid.