How Elden Ring Hilariously Inspired Star Wars: The Acolyte

Contains spoilers for "Star Wars: The Acolyte."

There's a big turning point in the fifth episode of "Star Wars: The Acolyte." The mild-mannered Qimir (Manny Jacinto) reveals himself to be a powerful Sith lord and takes on the heroes in head-to-head combat. He also comes out on top, brutally taking down his opponents despite the fact that the only piece of armor he's wearing is a creepy helmet. It would just take a single lightsaber slash to Qimir's robed body to put an end to the fight, but the Jedi just can't hit him.

Anyone who's played much "Elden Ring," or really any FromSoftware game, had to have a nagging sense of familiarity while watching Qimir slaughter his foes. He's not wearing a giant pot on his head, but his outfit is definitely reminiscent of the heroic player Let Me Solo Her, who used to spend his gaming sessions helping fellow "Elden Ring" players beat Malenia, Blade of Miquella.

Qimir isn't exactly a villainous version of Let Me Solo Her, but believe it or not, he really was inspired by "Elden Ring." "The Acolyte" showrunner Leslye Headland recently confirmed that the game gave her the initial inspiration for Qimir's character design and helped get the rest of the show's creative team on board for the idea.

Speaking with Inverse, Leslye Headland said that when she originally pitched the idea of Qimir fighting without armor, she got some pushback from the rest of the team working on "The Acolyte." Headland's thought was that Qimir didn't need to wear armor because he was so confident he wouldn't get hit. She managed to convince her team by referencing her own experiences with "Elden Ring." Headland said, "It's like the 'Elden Ring' costume. The Elden Bling. When you summon people, you always summon the people that aren't wearing anything, and it's like, 'These people are f****** crazy.'"

Before there was Elden Bling, there was Fashion Souls. Basically every FromSoftware "Souls" game has subtly encouraged players to focus on looking cool rather than staying well defended. If you just "git gud," then it shouldn't matter what you're wearing. It seems that philosophy is influencing "Star Wars" more and more as time goes on. Games like "Star Wars: Jedi Survivor" and its predecessor already took cues from the Soulslike genre, so it was only a matter of time before some FromSoftware influences made their way into the live-action version of a galaxy far, far away. Be on the lookout for a poison swamp coming to the next "Star Wars" project that Disney puts out.