Elden Ring players show that the game is just like anime

Elden Ring and popular shonen anime have something in common: In both, we watch characters confront seemingly insurmountable odds. And, in both, if the hero is savvy enough and has a trick or two up their sleeve, they can take down the most formidable boss. (And in both cases, wielding a giant-ass sword doesn’t hurt, either.)

These parallels are not lost on Elden Ring fans. We’re now seeing trends on TikTok where fans design characters who look like the stars of their favorite shows, like Demon Slayer and One Piece. They’re showing off their favorite weapons that remind them of the powers their favorite anime heroes wield.

So far, fans have built characters like the swordsman Roronoa Zoro from One Piece. This TikTok video from Drtopazz shows a Zoro-inspired character who dual-wields (otherwise known as a power stance) while beating a boss. (Unfortunately, Drtopazz’s character can’t do Zoro’s signature three-sword style technique, where he puts a blade in his mouth, but this is close enough.)

In this next video, a player jokes that they spent a lot of time designing a character when they just ended up dressing it up as the feral Inosuke Hashibira from Demon Slayer.

Many fans also brought up Bleach, which features a cast of warriors who use powers from alternate worlds. This video references the flash step, which is a common technique used in battle in the series.

A TikTok from Minstora shows a weapon that looks like an exact copy of Uryu Ishida’s power — which allows him to channel energy through a bow and arrow. It has been viewed more than 2.9 million times and the creator has an entire series called “Elden Ring as anime” on their TikTok.

This video showing an attack that looks like the dimension slash from Black Clover. It’s been viewed more than 3.4 million times.

And this video, inspired by Fairy Tale, shows the Dragonfire incantation in action.

Some videos note that just playing Elden Ring feels like an anime. At the end of the day, I think Elden Ring, like anime and video games that have come before it, speaks to the eternal truism that — again — it’s a lot of fun to swing a big-ass sword.