In Elden Ring, many players encounter confusing and sometimes shocking questlines, especially when dealing with morally dark characters like the Dung Eater and NPCs such as Blackguard Big Boggart. One of the most common questions players ask is whether the Dung Eater kills Blackguard. Because both characters are tied to disturbing themes, curses, and violent outcomes, it is easy to assume a direct confrontation between them leads to death. However, the actual in-game events are more nuanced, depending on player actions, quest progression, and timing within the storyline.
Does Dung Eater kill Blackguard?
The short answer is no, the Dung Eater does not directly kill Blackguard Big Boggart in the standard progression of Elden Ring. Instead, Blackguard’s fate is mostly influenced by player choices and specific quest triggers rather than an encounter with the Dung Eater himself. While both characters are part of darker narrative threads, their stories intersect only indirectly, and Blackguard’s death or survival depends largely on how the player interacts with him during Rya’s questline.
This misunderstanding often comes from the fact that both characters are connected to cursed or violent themes, making players assume their storylines collide more directly than they actually do.
Who is the Dung Eater?
The Dung Eater is one of the most disturbing NPCs in Elden Ring. He is part of a major questline involving the Curse of the Seedbed and the ending known as the Blessing of Despair. His character is defined by violence, defilement, and a desire to spread a cursed fate across the Lands Between.
Role in the story
The Dung Eater seeks to curse others so they become seedbed for a horrifying fate after death. His actions are tied to an alternate ending of the game that focuses on corruption and despair rather than restoration or order.
Behavior and personality
- Hostile and aggressive mindset
- Obsessed with spreading a curse
- Detached from normal human morality
- Appears in different locations during his questline
Despite his violent nature, the Dung Eater does not randomly kill NPCs like Blackguard outside of scripted or player-triggered events.
Who is Blackguard Big Boggart?
Blackguard Big Boggart is a unique NPC known for his rough personality and humorous yet serious presence in the game. He is first encountered near Liurnia of the Lakes and plays a key role in Rya’s questline. While he initially appears unfriendly, he eventually becomes more cooperative with the player.
Role in Rya’s questline
Blackguard is involved in helping Rya recover her stolen necklace. This interaction is one of the early steps in her storyline, which later connects to Volcano Manor.
Personality traits
- Blunt and straightforward speech
- Pragmatic and survival-focused mindset
- Occasionally humorous or sarcastic tone
- Not inherently evil, but morally gray
Despite his rough nature, Blackguard is not a villain, and his fate is not directly tied to the Dung Eater’s actions.
How Blackguard actually dies in the game
Blackguard’s death, if it occurs, is not caused by the Dung Eater in a direct encounter. Instead, it is linked to a scripted progression within Rya’s questline and player decisions.
Key trigger for his fate
Blackguard can be found later in the game at the Boilprawn Shack in Liurnia. If players continue Rya’s questline and choose specific progression paths, Blackguard may later appear in the Lake of Rot area. It is here that he can be killed, but this outcome is not the result of Dung Eater’s direct involvement.
Possible outcomes
- Blackguard survives if the player does not progress certain quest stages
- Blackguard can be killed in scripted or environmental situations
- His fate is tied to quest progression rather than a single NPC interaction
This is why many players mistakenly believe the Dung Eater is responsible, when in reality the connection is indirect at best.
Relationship between Dung Eater and Blackguard
There is no direct narrative link where the Dung Eater hunts or targets Blackguard. Their paths exist in different parts of the game world and different questlines. The Dung Eater’s focus remains on collecting Seedbed Curses and advancing his own ending route, while Blackguard is tied to Rya’s storyline and exploration-based encounters.
However, both characters share thematic similarities, which may contribute to confusion
- Both have morally ambiguous backgrounds
- Both are involved in dark or violent story elements
- Both appear in regions connected to the mid-to-late game progression
These similarities can make players assume their stories intersect more than they actually do.
Why players think Dung Eater kills Blackguard
There are several reasons why this misconception is common among players of Elden Ring.
Dark tone of both characters
Both Dung Eater and Blackguard exist in morally gray or dark narrative spaces. The Dung Eater is openly sinister, while Blackguard has a rough and criminal-like appearance. This leads players to assume conflict between them.
Complex questlines
Elden Ring is known for its non-linear storytelling. NPC questlines often overlap in confusing ways, making it difficult to track cause and effect between characters.
Indirect consequences
Some NPC deaths in the game are triggered by player actions elsewhere, which leads to assumptions that nearby or thematically related characters are responsible.
Role of player choice in NPC outcomes
One of the most important aspects of Elden Ring is that many NPC outcomes depend on player decisions. This includes dialogue choices, quest progression, and exploration order. Blackguard’s fate is a good example of how indirect these systems can be.
The game does not always clearly state why an NPC dies or disappears, which can lead players to connect unrelated events, such as linking the Dung Eater to Blackguard’s fate.
Understanding questline independence
Although Elden Ring features interconnected stories, not all NPCs interact directly. The Dung Eater and Blackguard operate in separate narrative paths that rarely cross. Recognizing this independence helps clarify many misconceptions about character relationships.
In fact, most NPCs in the game world follow self-contained arcs that only occasionally intersect with others, usually through environmental storytelling rather than direct interaction.
So, does the Dung Eater kill Blackguard? The answer is no. There is no direct interaction where the Dung Eater is responsible for Blackguard Big Boggart’s death. Instead, Blackguard’s fate is tied to player choices and quest progression within Rya’s storyline. The confusion comes from the dark themes surrounding both characters and the complex, non-linear structure of Elden Ring’s storytelling. Understanding how each questline operates independently helps clarify that while both characters inhabit a grim and violent world, their stories do not directly intersect in this way.