George R. R. Martin insists, no, he didn't name Elden Ring's bosses after his initials
"I suspect that I have been giving characters names beginning with R and G and M since the start."
Last week, there was a faint flutter in Elden Ring circles after fans spotted a cute little detail: that George R. R. Martin appeared to have inserted himself into the game while writing its background lore by naming all its major players - who you'll inevitably encounter as bosses at some point or other - after his own initials. In response, the Game of Thrones author has now taken to the internet to dismiss the theory as being all a bit daft.
In fairness, it's a compelling notion; as a cursory glance at Elden Ring's character list will quickly reveal, four of the most significant players in the game's lore all have names beginning with either the letters G, R, or M - there's Godfrey, for instance, Rennala, Radagon, and Marika. And if you want to go further down their respective family trees, there are plenty more Gs, Rs, and Ms to be found: Godwyn, Radahn, Ranni, Rykard, Renna, Mogh, Miquella, and so on.
But no! says George, it's all a big coincidence! "There's a weird story all over the internet about how I 'hid' my initials in Elden Ring," Martin explained in a new post on his blog, "because...ah...some of the characters have names beginning with R, or G, or M. To which I say, 'Eh? What? Really?'. This was news to me."
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"I have been writing and publishing stories since 1971," Martin continued, "and I suspect that I have been giving characters names beginning with R and G and M since the start. Along with the other twenty-three letters of the alphabet as well."
"Coming up with names is hard, especially since A Song of Fire & Ice uses 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 up stuff."
But while one Elden Ring mystery may now have been solved, plenty more still remain. What's with the illusory wall that takes 50 hits to reveal, for instance? Or, why is From denying my brave vagabond the privilege of maximum crotch comfort by not letting him slip into a pair of lovely Deathbed Smalls? Or why, exactly, is our Ed Nightingale so very suspicious of tutorial holes? Perhaps some questions were simply never meant to be answered.