Messmer The Impaler

Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for Elden Ring and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC; read at your own caution.

About

Messmer The Impaler is a villain and boss introduced in the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. Since being prominently featured in the DLC's trailers leading up to its release, fans speculated about and drew fan art for the character. After the DLC's release, the intense difficulty of his boss fight and his lore led to further discourse about the character.

Origin

Messmer the Impaler first appeared in the gameplay reveal trailer for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC to Elden Ring,^[1] which was posted to YouTube on February 21st, 2024, and gained 10 million views in five months (shown below).

Over the following months, Messmer prominently featured in promotional material for Shadow of the Erdtree, including the story trailer,^[2] released on May 21st, 2024 (shown below).

Lore

Ahead of the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, social media speculated about Messmer's role in the overall plot of Elden Ring. On May 21st, 2024, VaatiVidya posted an analysis of the story trailer that delved into some theories about Messmer^[3] (shown below).

The DLC, released June 21st, 2024, explained the lore behind Messmer. Messmer is a child of Marika, and sent Messmer to the Land of Shadow to conduct a ruthless holy war against the Hornsent.^[4] However, she abandoned him there, likely due to his being born cursed to harbor the Abyssal Serpent within him. He is a significant boss in the DLC, and players must defeat him in order to progress the story.

Online Presence

On April 15th, 2024, Bandai Namco^[5] promoted an 18-inch Messmer figurine by writing "Treat yourself to 18 inches of Messmer the Impaler," leading to jokes similar to the 19 inches of Venom meme (shown below).

Messmer has also inspired fan art pre- and post-DLC release. For example, on June 13th, Twitter user @NightmareSyrup^[7] posted parody art that drew Messmer in the style of an Andrew W.K. album, gaining over 170 retweets and 720 likes in three weeks (shown below, left). On July 3rd, Twitter user @MiyanEatWorld^[6] posted comedic art of Messmer as a basketball player, gaining over 60 retweets and 390 likes in a matter of hours (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References