The Acolyte showrunner explains how Elden Ring inspired new Star Wars villain

The Acolyte’s showrunner Leslye Headland has revealed that the show’s intimidating villain actually has their roots in Elden Ring.

Spoilers for one of The Acolyte’s major reveals ahead.

The Acolyte’s mysterious villain ‘The Stranger’ has finally been revealed as the laid-back merchant Qimir. To some viewers, this was a shock, meanwhile, certain theories had Qimir marked early on. What should surprise everyone is that a major aspect of the character was inspired by Elden Ring.

In an interview with Inverse, The Acolyte Showrunner Leslye Headland explained how Elden Ring influenced the show’s primary antagonist.

Headland revealed that it wasn’t any of the iconic Demigods of FromSoftware’s most recent Soulsborne that had an impact on Qimir, but instead its community of players. Specifically, the armorless Tarnished who pride themselves on their dodging ability.

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The Stranger’s lack of protective gear is pure Tarnished all the way.

Initially, Qimir’s own lack of armor was a topic of debate behind the scenes, but Headland cleared things up.

“As soon as I said he didn’t have armor, everyone lost their mind,” the Showrunner told Inverse. “[They asked] ‘How can you not have armor?’ I was like, ‘Why would you wear armor if you’re not going to get hit?’”

“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***ing crazy’,” she elaborated.

After watching Qimir solo the group of Jedi sent to hunt him down in the latest episode of The Acolyte, those inspirations are more than apparent. His insane agility made for some stunning fight choreography.

The Acolyte has had an interesting run with fan favor swinging back and forth through the first five episodes. Some chapters have been criticized as “garbage”, while the most recent was positively received as “the darkest Star Wars ever seen”.

Elden Ring’s new Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has had a parallel journey. Early on, the difficulty irked some players, with streamers like Asmongold saying it’s “too hard to be fun”. Upon its completion, however, the content creator did a backflip and declared: “It’s a 10.”