In Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, player gather "souls" to level up. In Bloodborne, players gather Blood Echoes to level up, and in Elden Ring, players Elden Ring Runes gather Runes to level up. Because of their involvement in this process, it's pretty clear on paper that Rune Bears are stronger than the standard bear. In-game, it's also terrifying to encounter one as they have glowing golden chests, massive arms, and at times, can just appear out of nowhere. Of course, the question is what these Rune Bears are or how they've gained their power.In a world like Elden Ring, where there are dog dinosaurs and birds with swords, a gigantic bear definitely doesn't seem out of place. But, upon closer inspection and first noted by YouTuber Zullie the Witch, their lore may be just as deep as they are big.

RELATED:

Elden Ring Player Points Out Incredible Detail About Radahn And His Arrows.

Elden Rings, Rune Bears, and Dragon Eyes, Oh My!

In a recent video, Zullie the Witch noted a few key details about these bears. First, there was one in the Elden Ring beta, which could only be accessed out of bonds, that dropped a Dragon Heart. Since it was a bear and this doesn't happen in the base game, it was thought to be a placeholder asset. The code for these animals also treat them as nothing real special, simply calling them Rune Bears, but it is worth noting some of the plant enemies and the red wolves are called "RuneWolf" and so on in the code. And to cap it all off, Rune Bears have draconic eyes. Their standard counterparts do not obviously, but they are a match for the yellow eyes of the Elden Ring protagonist should players take part in Dragon Communion and for dragon eyes at that.

In short, it seems the most logical explanation is that Rune Bears grow in strength from eating Dragon Hearts. These plants consuming them, as well as wolves consuming them, likely explain their transformations too. Elden Ring lore is complex, however, and it doesn't end there. It is known that anyone who takes part in Dragon Communion, too much of it, will slowly lose their humanity and, as punishment, be forced to crawl around the world as Magma Wyrms. It's clear that Rune Bears are more draconic than their former counterparts (and by extension, creatures like Red Wolves likely are too), but this leads to two major possibilities.

First, it's possible that this means Rune Bears, Red Wolves, and so on could eventually become Magma Wyrms or other dragon-like creatures. They would just be at a similar stage of a Tarnished who undergoes Dragon Communion, but the wording leads to a second aspect. Magma Wyrms are "punishments," presumably left behind by the Dragon Outer God, and lose their humanity, but animals probably do not do so maliciously and are less likely to be punished as a result. So, Rune Bears and Magma Wyrms could be the end of it, yet the word choice then opens up another can of worms for Elden Ring.

Blood Echoes and Souls are easily explained in their games, but Elden Ring never really explains what runes are. Sure, there are the Great Runes that can repair the Elden Ring, and Runes are both XP and currency, but the logic there is not really explored. On the one hand, this is likely that any "essence" of an enemy is a rune, but on the other, this could mean some runes are long-lasting and/or are draconic in nature, as dragons once ruled over The Lands Between.

This makes sense because some Rune items are called Golden Buy Elden Ring Items (Golden Order?) or Hero Runes. Enemies whose eyes glow, for example, drop more runes, and that could support this aspect of Elden Ring's level up process. Of course, there may be no answers here, but Rune Bears and Red Wolves have, no doubt, some draconic features worked into their very essence.