Elden Ring’s new DLC, Shadow Of The Erdtree, is out now. And players are discovering the many new locales and more importantly, bosses, that comes in this one-and-only expansion to FromSoftware’s 2022 open world RPG.
A new video by BonfireVN has shed some light on a particular detail about one particular boss fight, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion, which has made some folks laughing but for those familiar with Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year celebrations, make a lot of sense.
The big revelation of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion is that skeletally it’s not a four-legged animal, but rather two humanoids working in tandem.
This is pretty much like how traditional Lion Dances are, performed during Lunar New Year celebrations, though not exclusively. It takes two to have a dancing lion, one controls the head, the other the back, moving in sync with each other as one unit, performing dances for good luck.
Lion Dances originated from China and is seen commonly in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Some countries like Indonesia has developed their own, unique style of Lion Dance.
Usually, these lion dances are accompanied by live instrumentals, gongs and drums pounding loud as the lion moves about. Some performances include the lion approaching people to drop a mandarin orange.
It’s cool to see a twisted version of a very real tradition applied here in Elden Ring. The actual boss fight does somewhat evokes a wicked version of a lion dance. The Dancing Lion’s hip checks are truly menacing and don’t you dare stare the lion in the eyes directly as it’ll approach you not to deliver a mandarin but rather a bad, bad time.
At least traditional lion dances in Malaysia doesn’t have a live choir, yet. But for those Lion Dance performers, there’s an opportunity to do something funny for the Elden Ring community come next Lunar New Year.
Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree is out now on PS4, PS5, PC (Steam), Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.