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The first demigods were The Elden Lord Godfrey and his offspring, the golden lineage.
The Gods and Demigods of the Lands Between hold complex relationships, frequently changing loyalties. To better understand these relationships, we can start by looking at the family tree. As a definitive chronology is hard to be certain of, I have instead chosen to format these images in the way which I believe best illustrates the connections.
(Beware - some spoilers and speculation ahead)
Rennala and Radagon
Married here at the Church of Vows at the end of the Second Liurnian War, Rennala and Radagon appear to have brought about three demigods - Radahn, the Starscourge; Ranni, the Witch; and Rykard, the Blasphemous. While Radahn and Ranni have no known offspring, Radahn appears to have sired at least one child after offering himself to the vile Serpent God.
There is some speculation about who the mother could be; some think his consort, Tanith, as she is referred to as Rya’s mother. However, this could be purely an adoptive status. Another theory points towards a woman known as Daedicar. This woman is mentioned only in passing, but it is stated that she gave birth to “a myriad of grotesque children“. It is important to note that this is only a rumour, and we have no solid proof here.
Marika and Godfrey
Some time before our own Queen was married to Radagon, the “Eternal” Queen Marika waged war against the Giants of the North, and afterwards granted Godfrey the title of Elden Lord, the first of this rank. Together, they had 3 children - the cursed Omen Twins, Morgott and Mohg; and Godwyn the Golden. These children of Godfrey were the first of the Golden Lineage, which continues to this day. The youngest of this lineage is Godrick, the Grafted, but other ancestors include Godefroy, who seems to have been the first to discover the power of Grafting. It is currently unclear who, if anyone, Godwyn had his children with...
Marika and Radagon
This leads us into perhaps the most contentious branch of this family tree; the dual-identity of Marika/Radagon, and the children they had together. Whether the two were once separate beings, or their children were born of parthenogenesis, it is unclear. However, this is far from where the strangeness ends...
Firstly, the cursed Empyrean twins. Miquella the Unalloyed and Malenia, Goddess of Rot are the most well-known children of the pair. Both were afflicted with curses from birth; Miquella lived eternally as a child, and Malenia was afflicted by the Scarlet Rot. Seeking to end their curses, Miquella worked alongside his father to develop and grow the Golden Order. Once he saw that it held no cure for their afflictions, he instead turned to more drastic measures. Both the Unalloyed Gold and the Haligtree appear to have been attempts to remove the curses from the pair, but these methods went against the orthodox of the Golden Order and the sanctity of the Erdtree.
Malenia does not appear to have given birth willingly or intentionally, but it appears that the blooms of her scarlet rot have given life to at least five children, who do not seem to have inherited (or grown into) the Demigod status: Millicent, Polyanna, Maureen, Amy and Mary. They, along with the Scarlet Rot, are a topic for another day...
Finally, Melina. I am not the first to propose this idea, but I understand that it may be something new for some people, so I will do my best to explain the reasoning here. Firstly, we have some simple statements from Melina herself in which she claims Marika to be her mother:
“Me, I'm searching for my purpose given to me by my mother inside the Erdtree long ago, for the reason that I yet live, burned and bodyless.”
This quote directly references the fact that Melina’s mother is inside the Erdtree, which we know to be occupied only by Marika/Radagon and the Elden Beast. We also know that Melina can recite the “spoken echoes” of Marika, and she also makes reference to her “mother’s designs” later in the game. I believe that this is enough evidence to cement Melina as the daughter of Marika.
Being the daughter of Marika does not prove her to be the daughter of Radagon however, and here we must begin to speculate. The first, and most visually appealing idea, refers to the three types of butterfly found across the Lands Between. These are the Aeonian, Nascent, and Smoldering variants.
The first has a clear connection to Malenia; the name refers to a region blighted by Malenia and her rot, the butterfly appears rotten itself, and it is often found around areas afflicted with rot, but also within the Haligtree.
The second may not be immediately obvious, but the connection is solidified when we look to the item description: “This butterfly appears as if it's just emerged from its cocoon for its entire life“. This makes clear reference to Miquella, who put himself in a cocoon to try and advance his cursed life to adulthood.
This leaves only the Smoldering Butterfly. This cannot refer to either of the other gods, but it also does not appear to have any connection to Ranni, the other Empyrean child. The description also doesn’t give us much to go off, though it does mention that the butterfly serves as “kindling”. Various items in the game make reference to a “Kindling Maiden”, and we know that titles like this hold much importance in the world of Elden Ring - enough so that Fromsoft have corrected and altered the descriptions of various items to provide a more cohesive picture. This could, at the end of the day, just be a coincidence - but I think it is unlikely.
The identity of this “Kindling Maiden” is all but confirmed to be Melina, who (from her earlier quote) we know was burned and is now bodyless. This leaves us with three butterflies, each linked to a powerful being in the Lands Between. The fact that two of them are siblings, and all three of them have the same mother, points a finger at the three of them being more closely related that it may first seem.
The other key piece of evidence I will be using to make this case hinges on the identity of the Gloam-Eyed Queen. This woman rose to power, alongside her Godskin cult, during (or possibly just after) the Age of the Erdtree. The Incantation “Black Flame Ritual” declares that she was “an Empyrean chosen by the Fingers“, which strongly implies she was a child of either Marika or Radagon. We know of most of these children, and none of them appear to fit the description; the only daughters are Malenia, who was afflicted by rot, and Ranni, who we can find atop the Divine Tower of Liurnia, slain but not burned. This means that, barring the technicalities of the ambiguous gender of Miquella/St Trina (a topic for another time), there must be at least one daughter of either Marika or Radagon who we do not know about.
There may be some subtle hints throughout the game, but the additional scene granted at the end of the Frenzied Flame ending if Melina is still alive provides a clear view of her second eye; an eye coloured as a gloam sky. If you prefer textual evidence, it is said that it was the Gloam-Eyed Queen who fought Maliketh in an attempt to steal Destined Death, and once it is unleashed, Melina tells you that Destined Death is exactly what she will return to you.
I’m not really sure how to close this off - if you read this, or even just the trees themselves, then I hope you enjoyed. I’m open to new ideas, as we all should be, and so I welcome debate and discussion below. I understand that the idea of Melina being the daughter of Radagon and Marika is not universally accepted, but I believe we have been given a lot of evidence to support it so far.
Next, I plan to discuss the demigods in more detail, including their families and their roles in the wider plot of Elden Ring.
You're a Mohg fan?? Ok. Go invade someone. No, seriously, why aren't you invading people. It's part of his lore. Go murder people in the name of Mohgwyn dynasty. Use that bloody finger. And then post on Tumblr about it. Do it.
