Killing The Turtle Pope Is Elden Ring’s Most Tragic Quest
Can we spare a minute for Miriel the Turtle Pope? It's true that most of the men and monsters you'll meet out there in the Lands Between are out to pillage or punish you, but every so often, you'll come across a pure soul. Here's a piece of advice if you don't want to conjure some bad karma - you probably shouldn't kill them.
Elden Ring is populated with some pretty nasty NPCs, and even those that don't mean you direct harm often come with some major drawbacks. You only have to look at Fia the deathbed companion who will give you Poise but chip away at your FP. Thankfully, Miriel the Turtle Pope is one of the few nice ones that genuinely doesn't mean you any harm.
What Happens If You Kill Elden Ring's Turtle Pope?
Found at the Church of Vows, Miriel is a big ol' NPC that adds some much-needed brightness to Elden Ring. Most of us are rightly hesitant to kill Miriel, so taking one for the team, YouTuber Prizzaa Gaming Channel has done it for us. RIP Miriel.
The video has been branded as "maidenless behaviour", but keen to see it through to the end, Prizzaa didn't stop when Miriel withdrew into his shell. Even as they kept hacking away, a doomed Miriel said: "I cannot die, but nor will I cause any harm unto you. Cease your futile efforts."
Although Miriel seemed adamant he'd be okay, it wasn't... he can die.
So, what's your reward for being a heartless monster akin to Mohg the Lord of Blood? Killing the Turtle Pope will give you Miriel's Bell Bearing, which lets you buy his items from the Roundtable Hold. You'll also get 12 turtleneck meats that can craft the Pickled Turtleneck, but it's hardly worth being declared as maidenless. If you were hoping to accept absolution from the church to bring back Miriel, Prizzaa learned that it won't work on the Turtle Pope, meaning he really is brown bread.
What Have Players Said About The Turtle Pope?
It's safe to say, players love Miriel. On the official Elden Ring wiki, one fan wrote: "This guy doesn't have BS depressing questline, doesn't move anywhere, accepts any kind of spell books, never gets mad at you, constantly being wholesome, wears pope hat. BEST NPC EVER." Another simply said, "He is legitimately a comfort when everything gets all gloomy and depressing" - proving there's a lot of love for Miriel.
Over on Reddit, someone else posted, "I killed Pope Turtle, so you don't have to." They were equally scolded for their actions. One wrote, "I'll pray for you, but I doubt you'll escape Hell for this," while another added, "I thought that burning the Erdtree was supposed to be the first cardinal sin. I was clearly wrong, it can be the second."
The worst bit of it all is the fact Miriel apparently lets out a high-pitched wail when you kill him but STILL says he forgives the Tarnished. Cheers, turtle kids are crying now.
