Elden Ringis home to some of the most terrifying, blood-curdling creatures in the gaming universe, a few of whom are sure to dominate the nightmares of gamers - and not just because of their looks. Life is all about fighting battles, but to live long, one has to pick their battles wisely and know when to down tools and run for the hills. Players ofElden Ringfollow this principle when taking on the mythical creatures in the game and avoid some of these fearsome beasts due to their status as optional bosses. A number of these optional bosses are straight from hell, and fewElden Ringgamers will stick around to mess with the Rune Bear boss. The base form of this enemy that players encounter while traversing the map is known as the Lesser Rune Bear, although there’s nothing really “lesser” about these creatures.
A Rune Bear is exceptionally difficult to defeat, and its lore may provide a reason for its formidable nature. Even the most experienced players ofElden Ring, the prized jewel game of FromSoftware, will do their best to avoid the Rune Bears due to their high level of difficulty to overcome. Unfortunately, the odd run-in can still occur, as these Lesser Rune Bears roam in concentrated amounts in Limgrave and Mt. Gelmir but are present throughoutElden Ring’s map. The Lesser Rune Bear is exceedingly more powerful than other wildlife in the game, with some gamers noting they had an easier time dispatching bosses ofElden Ringlike Astel, Naturalborn of the Void at the Lake of Rot swamp than their encounters with these creatures.
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Rune Bears Are Frustrating to Fight, and A Tiny Detail Might Give a Clue as to Why
Understandably, thepower discrepancy between the Rune Bears and other wildlifein the game has become a source of perplexity for gamers, and some players are coming up with theories explaining the origin of the dreaded mythical creatures. YouTuber Zullie the Witch has attempted to explain this phenomenon in a recent thought-provoking video, examining old footage ofElden Ringwhen it was conducting network tests in its beta phase of production. As is custom for testing, the beta was limited to a particular map section for players to explore.
However, the beta testers, possessing the innate curiosity of gamers, figured out a way to escape the boundaries of the demo’s map and went on an adventure in the areas beyond the limited scope of the demo, discovering previously unannounced features of the game during their journey. During this naughty - if slightly illegal - expedition, players came across and fought a Lesser Rune Bear, and upon the death of theRune Bear, noticed the beast had dropped a Dragon Heart.
Curiously, in the fully released version ofElden Ring, this event never happened again after thedeath of a Rune Bear. Some would make the argument of coincidence and point to the fact that the demo was still under construction, so the presence of a few errant features is not unexpected. There’s some sense in attributing the confusing appearance to a developmental error, but when examined under the proverbial microscope, the Dragon Heart could point to a correlative explanation for the invincibility of the Rune Bear.
A few features of a Rune Bear point to a connection with dragons inElden Ring, from its eyes to the spikes dotting its chest. The shape and color of a Rune Bear’s eyes match those of the game’s Stone Dragons as well as those of theElden Ringprotagonist in the Dragon Communion, and the placement of spikes on a Rune Bear’s chest lies where a heart should be. While the Rune Bears don’t drop Dragon Hearts after their death in the game, the item they do drop - the Spelldrake Talismans - depicts an ancient blue dragon. One or two similarities between these mythical creatures may be chalked off to mere happenstance, but with multiple pieces of evidence supporting the connection between Rune Bears and dragons, it’s plausible to conclude the two creatures share common lore.
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Dragons Could Be The Source of the Rune Bear’s Power
Questions about the concrete connection still linger, and there are a few possibilities forElden Ringfans to consider. Oddly enough, theDragonkin Soldier of Nokstella inElden Ringdoes not drop Dragon Hearts, so another creature possessing the item is an interesting occurrence. There isn’t much information available to explain this, but stipulations that Rune Bears could previously have been predators of dragons have been offered. This appears to be the most logical explanation for the creature’s supernatural strength. If it rings true, this introduces a twist in the story of the Rune Bears because there’s a punishment attached to the excessive consumption of Dragon Hearts.
It is common knowledge inElden Ringthat humans who partake in theDragon Communion will slowly lose their humanity and transform into Magma Wyrms, creatures presumably abandoned by the Dragon Outer God. A transformation may be on the cards for Rune Bears in the future ofElden Ringbased on this occurrence, and Zullie the Witch seems to agree with this hypothesis. He is proposing the theory that Rune Bears are regular wildlife bears that are slowly morphing into dragons, similar to the human transformation into Magma Wyrms. The mannerisms of Rune Bears lend credibility to this idea, with their size and aggression a stark difference from regular bears.
Unfortunately,Elden Ringhas the shortcoming of not fully developing stories of its side characters and lower-level bosses, so there’s no definitive endgame for these fearsome creatures. Regardless of this loose end, therelationship between Rune Bears and dragonsis undeniable and goes a long way to explaining why Rune Bears prove so immensely difficult to overcome, as their shared heritage with the mythical creatures lends a layer of invincibility.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
