the art of grafting and the ship of Theseus in "Elden Ring"

Elden Ring has got a lot going on in it, as does most From Software games do. But even comparatively, Elden Ring has got so much vague, dense lore that makes it difficult to break down the entire story without writing like, a whole novel. So I decided to focus on something a bit smaller, but reoccurring through some of the characters in this game: namely, Godrick the Grafted, and what it means to "grow" strength from the literal bodies of your fallen enemies.

https://eldenring.fandom.com/wiki/Godrick_the_Grafted, first phase Godrick, pre-dragon head attached to his arm.

Everyone knows the Ship of Theseus thought experiment. If you replace all the parts of a ship one by one, until every single part, every single plank of wood is different, do you still have the same ship as before? Or is it something completely new? It's a way of thinking about change and growth over time, and our buddy Godrick here (who is actually no one's buddy) has taken that question to a whole new extreme.

Grafting in Elden Ring is, unfortunately, exactly what it sounds like. Godrick basically took body parts from other creatures--whether that be humans, beasts, or other monsters--and attached them to himself in order to become more powerful. His actual motives for doing so are a bit more complicated, and definitely involves some form of daddy issues with Godfrey. Godrick is a weakling and a coward, and is frequently described as such despite his godly lineage (hence daddy issues). So, he strives to become powerful, to become worthy, by any means necessary. Even if that means replacing his own body parts with parts far stronger than his. In the second phase of his boss fight, he literally replaces his arm with the head of a dragon (which just works, and totally does not seem fair).

But in Godrick pushing himself beyond his physical limits, and taking on the literal bodies of others for his own personal gain, how much can you argue is left of Godrick in the first place? Clearly enough to still fight for his pride, but maybe that's just because he hasn't thought to replace his entire head yet. This question through the Ship of Theseus becomes a quiet acknowledgement that, perhaps, identity is fluid--but is that really still the case here? This isn't just cells regenerating other cells, it's entire limbs.

Godrick, to me then, is an extreme--he isn't quiet or subtle about his change, he instead continuously grows more and more monstrous. Each wooden plank--each grafted arm--is a testament to the distorted version of himself he seems to be racing towards. But it's his own distorted mind convincing him that this is the only way for him to be stronger. The way isn't some intense training regiment--no, obviously the solution is to chop off limbs and claim them as your own. Ironically, this "art of grafting" is viewed as disgraceful and repugnant by many other characters in the game; in Godrick's twisted efforts to become worthy of his lineage and power, he only becomes increasingly unworthy. To me, Godrick lost himself a long time ago, probably far before the player meets him in the game. He's a directionless, cowardly man playing at a lord, as much as he would like to think otherwise.

Godrick may bear the symbols of his lineage, through the emblem of the beast, Serosh, and a two-headed war-axe, and he may strive to fill in the shoes of Godfrey--but that's as close as he gets to being who he used to be. His desperate clutching to who he wants to be blinded him as to what he has become. He's not the same ship he used to be, in fact, he's hardly a ship at all. He's more of a rowboat, trying fervently to keep water out of the damaged hull.

But as much as he tries, it just keeps filling with water. To the golden lineage, and to Godfrey, he will never be worthy.