Elden Ringis filled with secrets, and chances are, they’ll still be discovered for years to come. Players have already found away to pauseElden Ringnaturally, while others have found a wall in Volcano Manor that has to be hit 50 times to reveal a hidden path. It’s all there, ripe for players to dig through and discover.
One thing fans noticed recently is the number ofElden Ringcharacters whose names begin with G, R, or M—the initials, of course, of George R. R. Martin. How much he andElden Ringdirector Hidetaka Miyazaki teamed up on the game isn’t exactly clear—though what roles they covered are more distinct—and this has led some to believe that George R. R. Martin intentionally hid his initials inElden Ring.He has denied this.
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It’s worth stating that this theory makes some sense. Players only have to look at the similar names inElden Ring: Godfrey, Godwyn, Godrick, Radahn, Rennala, Radagon, Rykard, Ranni, Renna, Marika, Malenia, Melina, Margit, Morgott, Mohg, and far more. Obviously, this is enough to see the G. R. R. M. initials spread throughout the game, but according to Martin in a recent blog post called This, That, and t’Other things, this wasn’t done by him.
Some believe he hid his initials in the game, and he denies having sone so. “Coming up with names is hard, especially sinceA Song of Ice and Fireuses so many of them, and I am fond of giving family members and close kin names that have something in common…but really, why would I have to hide my name inside the game? My name is right there ON the game, as one of the creators. Hey, Elden Ring is exciting enough, no need to make stuff up.”
What should be noted is that, looking at these names, it’s clearly a common name association tactic. The characters with similar names are, in some way, related and/or connected. Godwyn and Godrick are so named for their association with Godfrey, as well as the many children of Radagon having R names: Radahn, Ranni, and Rykard.Margit, Morgott, and Mohg are also all connected as Omens, though some others use M names for a different reason (Marika). Now, usually, this is to help players/readers/viewers remember names, but that’s really not the case here as they all often get mixed up. It’s instead to show these relationships, which works well enough.
It’s hard to believe that this name association tactic wasn’t done intentionally, but at the very least, George R.R. Martin denies having done this himself.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
