Promised Consort Radahn is one of FromSoftware’s toughest fights to date. At the very end of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, he stands waiting to humble us after our countless victories leading up to this moment. But he’s always felt oddly familiar. Fans have likened his moveset to Dark Souls 2 since the expansion released with its wide-reaching hitboxes and unforgiving follow-ups, and whatdyaknow? They were bang on.

As one fan pointed out on the game’s subreddit, Consort Radahn appears to use a similar moveset to that of Headless Vengarl. For those who haven’t played the controversial middle child of the series, Vengarl is a fan-favourite character found in the Shaded Woods in Dark Souls 2. His decapitated head lies strewn in the ruins and is pretty friendly with us, but his body is a menace that hounds you on sight.

The video below makes him look like a cakewalk, but I know I’m not alone in saying this fight was a pain. He has two very similar weapons and a hard-hitting cross strike that you’ll no doubt recognise – it’s a lot slower than Radahn in hindsight, but so are you in Dark Souls 2.

Elden Ring Is A Mishmash Of Past Games

Headless Vengarl is far from the only character to see their moveset resurface in Elden Ring. The Erdtree Avatars are essentially just Asylum Demons from Dark Souls, and the Omenkillers are practically 1:1 with the Capra Demon – the boss fight in Liurnia even has two dogs in the arena!

That’s not to mention that the rats and basilisks use the same model, swapping petrification for death blight. And those painstakingly annoying imps in the catacombs? Dark Souls 3 thralls. At least we’re not fighting them on narrow rooftops this time.

It’s a common thread in the game and FromSoftware titles in general, but to see Vengarl return in spirit thanks to the hardest boss in FromSoftware history makes me a little less embarassed that I died to his headless body so much when I first played Dark Souls 2.