Please be aware there will be spoilers for endgame content ahead.
Curse-Born
Mohg was born deformed with horns sprouted from his body. He was considered by the people an Omen: a Curse-born. Typically, Omen would have their horns removed, but Mohg was of high-born nobility meaning that he would be spared of the often-deadly procedure of having them excised at birth. His twin brother Morgott would receive similar treatment.
The Omen King Morgott at the foot of the Erdtree readying for battle.
Mohg and Morgott were the cursed children of the game’s storyline centrepiece Queen Marika, and her husband Godfrey, or, Hoarah Loux, as we learn on our journey to become Elden Lord. Mohg or Morgott would have inherited the title of Elden Lord had it not been for their afflictions. The Omen Twins were cast underground as their images were seen as unnatural. Mohg found himself in a deep exile under the capital city of Leyndell. It was here, that he would begin his journey to become a lord. But not the lord he was born to become.
Lord
Following a cataclysmic event known as the Shattering; the destruction of the Elden Ring by Queen Marika, Mohg escaped his confinements, retrieving a shard of the Ring and becoming one of its bearers. He would then contact an outer God named the Formless Mother in the underground city of Nokron. It is here that Mohg would become her worldly vassal.
Queen Marika destroying the Elden Ring with her hammer, prompting the world changing event known as “The Shattering”
Standing before the Formless Mother, his accursed blood erupted from his body in blaze of flame. Here, he would become the Lord of Blood. The Mother would arm Mohg with a sacred spear of communion, used both to contact the Outer God and to protect his growing dynasty. The eruption of fire within Mohg would grant him the powerful incantations of the Bloodflame, allowing Mohg to wield blood and fire as weapons. It was here, underground, that Mohg would seek to build his palace, his following, and soon, his dynasty.
The beautiful image of an illuminated Mohgwyn palace
A Helpless Consort
Mohg’s plan of championing an era of blood involved the kidnapping of his half-brother Miquella, the brother of the curse rotten Malenia. Miquella was born an empyrean; empyreans’ have the potential to ascend into Godhood and are raised from birth with this purpose. He, was also born cursed and would remain forever young, but he had no issues with this affliction. Miquella chose to abandon his Godhood due to the royal healer’s inability to save his sister Malenia from the Rot that was slowly destroying her.
Miquella would escape with Malenia to the Haligtree, a place created by Miquella to reverse both his and Malenia’s curses. It is here that Miquella would enter a cocoon to grow, forever protected by his sister. At their earliest and weakest moments, Mohg would travel to the Haligtree and abduct Miquella in his cocoon, leaving Malenia to rot at the base of the tree. Artist Naka_da_Slacka gives us a beautiful vision of this pair.
Lord of Blood pic.twitter.com/ipDtkf6jh5
— Naka_da_Slacka (@NSlacka) April 12, 2022
The final home of Mohg and Miquella, Mohgwyn Palace, is where the Tarnished discover the horrors of Mohg’s plan unfolding. Mohg is hibernating with the dormant Empyrean, feeding him his accursed blood. He plans to raise Miquella, his half-brother, into Godhood and become his consort. Miquella was unresponsive to these attempts.
Forever an Omen
As the Tarnished enter the palace, Mohg emerges from Miquella in a pool of blood, his attempts to sway the dormant empyrean interrupted. He greets us at what he calls; “the birthplace of our Dynasty!” As the fight begins, Mohg leaps in defence of his dearest Miquella. As Mohg starts to weaken, he erupts in a blaze of flame and anger. Wings sprout from his back as he takes to sky dousing the arena in blood and flame. Artist Vince Price encapsulates the scene perfectly with this image.
Mohg, Lord of Blood pic.twitter.com/NvQPSXSxLH
— Vince Price (@vinceprice_art) August 3, 2022
Before long, the Tarnished strike him down, ending his lifelong ambitions. In a final plea with his dying breath, Mohg tells us: “I can see it, as clear as day… The coming of our dynasty”. Clearly Mohg is drowning in pride. He believes in his plan so feverously that even he cannot see it has crumbled before his eyes. The Lord of Blood returned to nothing more than the Curse-born, Omen child whose dynasty, in this hard and broken world, would never become a reality.
A Fitting Dynasty
There is a subtle relationship around Mohg’s story, both in the Lands Between and his dynasty in the real world. By all counts, Mohg is as relevant, important, hidden and incredibly dramatic as Malenia. They are both essentially special bosses whose stories inexplicably cross at Mohgwyn Palace. But much like Mohg’s dynasty in the Lands Between, his dynasty as a cultural icon of the game mimics his game counterpart. He sometimes receives the odd story or two, a piece of art or becomes the centerpiece of a loyal fans fiction. But, he sadly never quite reached the heights that his story deserved.
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