Frenzied Flame (Elden Ring)
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About
Frenzied Flame is one of the potential ending routes in the 2022 video game Elden Ring, as well as a continual theme throughout the game that was a holdover from Bloodborne, another FromSoftware game. After the game's release in late February 2022, memes referencing Frenzied Flame appeared on multiple sites and platforms.
Origin
With the release of Elden Ring on February 25th, 2022, the Frenzied Flame was introduced as a mechanic within the game as the "frenzy" status, which was an affliction mechanic in Bloodborne where your character would have their "frenzy meter" rise. Upon filling up, the player would then take a significant amount of damage. In Elden Ring, frenzy functionally works the same way with certain enemies in the game being able to build up your frenzy status. In Elden Ring however, the frenzy is something that is more sentient than in previous games, and the player is allowed to delve into its secrets and unlock an ending for the game involving Frenzied Flame.
This addition ultimately elevated the Frenzied Flame from a hated part of the game into something to meme about. Memes referencing this began appearing around March 2022. For example, on March 28th, Redditor Blue_Moon_Cheese[1] uploaded a meme talking about the Frenzied Flame as a character path, earning 18,500 upvotes in one month (shown below).
Spread
Unlike in Bloodborne, the frenzy status could be reliably used in battle via different means. One of the most well-known means involved a spell that would have the player shoot bolts of frenzy out of their eyes in a random pattern, causing madness in enemies and other players, which eventually spawned memes. For example, on April 14th, 2022, Redditor[2] PG_Roadhouse uploaded a Frenzied Flame meme to the subreddit /r/EldenRing using the Spongebob I Fucking Love X format (shown below).
Because of the different endings in the game relating to specific factions, Frenzy Flame became known as one of the more obscure but arguably worse endings that led to it being used in memes. For example, it was referenced in a Jeb Bush Wins meme, with Frenzied Flame beating out much better options, uploaded to iFunny[3] by user Khuto on May 2nd, 2022, which shows the Frenzied Flame beating the Golden Order in votes (shown below).
Various Examples
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