Miriel, Pastor of Vows / Pope Turtle

Submission 6,275

Part of a series on Elden Ring. [View Related Entries]

About

Miriel, Pastor of Vows is a friendly NPC in the 2022 RPG Elden Ring. Depicted as a giant turtle wearing a white and gold hat that resembles the Pope's, Miriel teaches the players sorceries and offers information on some of the other characters in the game. Due to its hat, players have given the character the affectionate nickname Pope Turtle.

Origin

Miriel, Pastor of Vows appears in FromSoftware's video game Elden Ring, released February 25th, 2022. They can be found in the eastern half of the Linuria of the Lakes area^[1] and teach players numerous sorceries while regaling the players on key NPCs like Lady Rennala and Lord Radagon.

Spread

Miriel became a quick hit among players of the game in late February and early March 2022 thanks to their design, earning them the nickname "Pope Turtle." Shortly after the game's release, numerous Twitter users^[2]^[3] posted screenshots of Miriel and excitedly claimed "Pope Turtle!" (examples shown below). As Miriel does not move from their location in the game, they became a site for players to leave messages calling them a dog. ^[4]

On March 12th, YouTuber Prizzaa Gaming Channel posted a video of themselves killing Miriel, gaining over 442,000 views in 13 days. On March 20th, Redditor VG_Crimson reported they set out to kill Miriel to see what would happen in a post that gained over 40,000 points in three days.^[5] The post describes the act as an agonizing experience, as Miriel has a large health bar, does not fight back and forgives the player for attacking them. The character's death scream is also purportedly painful to hear, nor is the loot worth it. The post went viral, as a Twitter repost by @cianmaher0^[6] gained over 5,600 retweets and 48,000 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below). The post and Prizza Gaming's video also led to coverage in Kotaku^[7] and Polygon,^[8] where writers at both publications urged players to not kill Miriel.