#praetor portrait!

[sunshinebeetle24]

colored-in sketch of jason and reyna (pre HoO)

[goldstarknight]

Phyrexian Praetor Portraits (2022)

This was the first time I experimented with a style similar to Disco Elysium. I always thought the praetors were really interesting characters. It's unfortunate they got so little focus in their final story arc.

Still quite happy with these pieces, although some came out better than others. :)

[ace--of--swords]

*Slides Misery and some worms over* she's always happy to share the love (worms)

Welcome to the wormarium. Greatest one in the city. No, in the county. No! In the world!!!

All the worms plz @misery-lake . Thanks for letting me draw Misery, and all of her worms. And thank you for your generosity.

[tobiasdrake]

I really do love how much you can tell about Doomguy just from looking around his room.

Like. Yeah, all the stuff you expect to see is there.

He's got his big ol' gun rack.

What appears to be a rock he uses as a punching bag.

Whetstone for sharpening his knives. All the Real Manly Violence Man stuff you'd think would be there.

But also a pair of nunchaku. Doomguy has never used nunchaku in any of his games. Those are just there because apparently he's the kind of dork who likes to play around with nunchaku and pretend he's doing kung fu.

Also a jump rope. Gotta keep his cardio up for all that running and jumping he has to do.

He reads Guns & Bullets magazine, but he also reads Science Monthly. Which makes sense that he'd be a bit of a techie since....

...he seems to have made his new Praetor Suit by disassembling the old one and rebuilding it to be higher-quality. You can see from the guts of the suit that it's powered armor, and he just... knows how to work that.

He's mad. Not stupid.

He also reads cooking magazines, of course. His only friend is Doom J.A.R.V.I.S.; He's gotta be self-sufficient. Though how he got those pizzas delivered is certainly beyond me.

And, of course, he has a collection of regular books that he likes to read as well. Though his taste in literature reveals a certain trend.

Also, he reads comics.

So many comics.

So, so many comics that he's left discarded comics lying around on his munitions cases. This man is a nerd.

And if you doubt his nerd cred, remember that he even keeps collectible toy displays. Doomguy is explicitly the kind of person who will go out of his way in a firefight with the forces of Hell itself to go snatch up a new toy for his collection.

He even has collectible toy figures hanging out on his computer desk. He put a little hard hat on one of them.

On the other side of his desk, he's got some leftover pizza from the inexplicable delivery service, plus takoyaki flavor chips and some candy. It seems Doomguy is a fruity candy kind of guy, not a chocolate guy. Man after my own heart.

Oh, you know he has shredded every single surface of the Fortress of Doom at some point. How do you think he learned to react so quickly in combat?

That is, of course....

When he's not ROCKING OUT with one of his three separate guitars. I bet the middle one's his favorite. It has a place of honor under the giant demon skull.

Some people might say that a record player and casette tapes are old-fashioned but cut him some slack; He's a Gen X-er.

Of course, there's one thing that any walk through Doomguy's room reveals more than anything else. The one thing that matters more than the world to him. The thing that drives him in his every waking moment.

He loved his bunny rabbit. My favorite thing about the portrait - Well, my favorite thing about it is that it's a piece of fanart that got officially canonized, but aside from that - is that he's wearing his Praetor Suit in it.

That's not something he brought from home. He commissioned an artist to paint that after becoming a Night Sentinel. He still loves his poor, late bunny rabbit.

And he keeps her close to him when he's home.

[blasphemousclaw]

ok so I watched Vaati’s new video on Rykard, really liked it overall but I wanted to go into more detail about what I liked and what I disagreed with. 

Gonna start with a list of the things I loved/found super interesting:

The way he laid out the evidence for Rykard’s inquisition having been on behalf of Leyndell was really really well laid out!!! 

I laughed at the “FAMILEEE” soundbyte 

His discussion about the origins of “hexes” was super cool 

I had never heard of the cut item description linking the Serpent Arrows to Shaded Castle! 

The idea that poison was involved in Rykard’s desecration of the Minor Erdtree… he didn’t mention this, but this idea could explain why there’s sickly greenish growths at its base?  

(Gelmir Minor Erdtree vs. Consecrated Snowfield Minor Erdtree)

Talked about the idea that the Great Serpent grew because of the sacrifices it was fed, then was killed, then came back as a normal-sized snake, that Rykard fed himself to and then grew large due to once again devouring sacrifices

Pointed out that the snakes inside the Abductor Virgins look like metal!!! I thought I was crazy for thinking this

1.0 Daedicar mentioned ‼️

His overall characterization of Rykard and his motivations is really good. he gets it

Now here’s some arguments he made that I disagree with:

Early in the video, Vaati makes the argument that the blue-robed Officials originate from House Marais because the blue robes are a part of Maleigh Marais’s garb as head of the House, because Inquisitor Ghiza wears bandages, suggesting that he’s “sickly born” like the rest of the Marais family, and because the unnamed guy in the Volcano Manor portrait also wears a metal mask like Maleigh Marais. He argues that House Marais were assimilated into Erdtree society, and presumably that the Official’s blue robes were a precursor to the other robes associated with the nobility (the Ruler’s robe, the Upper Class attire, and the Consort’s robe). 

There are several reasons why I disagree with this theory:

Masks aren’t unique to the Marais family: the Ruler’s set comes with a Ruler’s mask, said to be “customary dress among lords,” and Tanith also wears a mask with her Consort’s robe. I speculated that masks are simply part of the noble fashion alongside the particular style of robe. 

I don’t think it makes a ton of sense for pompous noblemen to have adapted their style of dress from a robe associated with a family of executioners carrying out “the darkest duties of mankind”

The Volcano Manor portrait guy does not have bandages under his mask like Maleigh does.

Maleigh and Ghiza don't really look alike at all:

Also, a different explanation for Ghiza’s bandages could be that he’s a remnant of the 1.0 version of Daedicar, a torturer in Rykard’s inquisition: “he would test new methods of torture first upon himself."

Overall I think a better explanation for the Marais attire is that, since their ancestral duty was serving as executioners on behalf of the Erdtree's justice system, they simply incorporated the Official's attire (worn by magisterial officials carrying out "surveillance, executions, gruesome rituals") into the garb of the head of their house.

I absolutely think House Marais is connected to Volcano Manor though; I've suggested that as executioners they serve as a branch of the Erdtree justice system working in tandem with Rykard's inquisition.

2. Later in the video, Vaati makes the argument that the Abductor Virgins were made after Rykard snakeified himself. I personally think that they were made before the snakening, but I can see the evidence for the contrary and I definitely think it’s possible. However, Vaati later says that the Abductors were used to transport people to the Underground Inquisition Chamber to be interrogated, which contradicts his argument that they were made after Rykard’s snakening… if Rykard is now a serpent, no longer a Praetor, what use is there for interrogation? And who is doing the interrogating, if Tanith was the only human left loyal to Rykard, and his inquisitors have long abandoned him? If the Abductors were made after Rykard became the serpent, the victims are probably just being fed to him. 

3. Towards the end of the video, Vaati says that the serpent displayed in the Temple of Eiglay is the flayed skin of the Great Serpent, and that might explain the Godskin’s presence there. But it’s not the flayed skin of a snake, it’s a snake shed:

It’s a pale, milky, almost translucent color, with some ragged edges and holes. Snakes shed their skin as they grow, and we know the Great Serpent “devours, grows, and lives eternally.” Rykard even has some shed skin stuck to his body and tail:

4. Lastly, I’ve beat this horse to death but you can’t say with 100% certainty that Rykard was born with red hair because he has pale hair in the present day. I will die on this hill

[blueiscoool]

Roman Coin - Gold Aureus of Galba C. AD 68-69

Obverse: portrait of Galba. Reverse: DIVA AUGUSTA. The defied Livia stnding left and holding a sacrifical dish and sceptre. Earlier in his career Galba had been the beneficiary of Livia's influence and generosity.

Galba (born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Galba. He was the first emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors and assumed the throne following Emperor Nero's suicide.

Born into a wealthy family, Galba held at various times the positions of praetor, consul, and governor to the provinces of Aquitania, Upper Germany, and Africa during the first half of the first century AD. He retired from his positions during the latter part of Claudius' reign (with the advent of Agrippina the Younger), but Nero later granted him the governorship of Hispania. Taking advantage of the defeat of Vindex's rebellion and Nero's suicide, he became emperor with the support of the Praetorian Guard.

Galba's physical weakness and general apathy led to him being selected-over by favorites. Unable to gain popularity with the people or maintain the support of the Praetorian Guard, Galba was murdered on the orders of Otho, who became emperor in his place.

[ravens-dagger]

Why did it take me until Just Now to realize the portrait of Rykard behind Tanith has squiggly bois at the bottom of it?

I've literally seen no one else mention this like. We know Rykard had been following Eiglay's cult for quite some time before feeding himself to the Serpent, so perhaps Rykard had been feeding people to Eiglay as part of experimentation or during his time as a legitimate praetor? I wouldn't put it past a man who has an underground inquisition chamber filled with torture devices to feed criminals to a snake god.

[goji-pilled]

if you casually play through elden ring without reading item descriptions or digging into the lore and characters you'd probably land at the conclusion that rykard is this evil, fucked up man who lives in a torture mansion, became a snake and eats people.

and like. you wouldn't be wrong. rykard did torture people, he did come up with horrifying inventions, he fed himself to a snake and commited the greatest form of blasphemy.

but when you do dig around, read the item descriptions, think of the story and themes, try to make sense of what's there you realize:

praetor rykard, later lord of blapshemy was a terrifying, cruel man. but even a man like him had a heart that loved deeply.

he had a heart, and despite all, his gelmir knights' helmets were adorned with red feathers, the colours of his father.

he had a heart that loved so dearly he'd rather have tanith forget him than drag her down his path of blasphemy and horror.

he had a heart that loved so dearly he sens out abducter virgins to his brother and mother.

he had a heart that loved so dearly that radahn's portrait hangs in volcano manor in the middle of the room where the recrusants stay to this day.

he had a heart that loved so dearly he was willing to face off against maliketh, the grim reaper, the one thing all heroes feared, because ranni asked him to.

you could even say that he has heart that still holds his family dear when he is a serpent.

rykard was a cruel man, but heartless he wasn't. just like his mother, he loved deeply and without any shame about it.

and i think that makes him all the better

[maletofujoshi]

wait is rykard elden ring blond. girl what

- this lends more credence to the idea that radagon is marika means that radagon has Always been marika, because like. where else is that coming from

- rykard seems to have had more of a connection to leyndell, especially with the title of praetor and having command over inquisitors. i wonder if him and radahn claiming roles closer to service of leyndell/the golden order have to do with caria being a matriarchal line

- the game is doing the same colour trick they did with mohg lol! mohg’s eye appear red because the room he’s in is glowing red, and the same is true of the portrait of rykard in volcano manor. you have to bring a neutral light source in urself to see the gold tones

[jonnywalkerblog]

I included visual repetition in my portrait. The South Park-style in which I drew the subject is repeated in the background of how I depicted Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. I guess I also included a "dramatic background" in my portrait as drama-queen Diggs enjoys throwing sideline tantrums, and Allen likes creating late-game tension by throwing bone-headed interceptions that turn blowouts into needlessly close losses.

Attendance Prompt:

"The second was to associate the color with power and royalty. In republican Rome it was a tightly constrained badge of status. Triumphant generals could wear a purple-and-gold robe; those in the field, plain purple. Senators, consuls, and praetors (a kind of magistrate) wore a broad Tyrian band on their togas; knights, a narrow band. This visual hierarchy changed upon Caesar’s return to Rome, when the rules became even more draconian. By the fourth century A.D. only the emperor was allowed to wear Tyrian purple; anyone else caught wearing it could face death." (165)

For pretty much as long as I can remember, I've associated the color purple with royalty. So did many of the people around me. But I never really knew where that association originated from. Thus, I found the anecdotes about the significance of purple in Ancient Rome to be very interesting.

[thetransversespectator]

Praetor went to Indiana to review a Bill Murray film about mental illness at an obscure film festival. He had a small red car and was very sleepy the entire time he was there. The sun did not shine at all. It was dark and cold.

He kept getting lost on his way to the festival and somehow always ended up at Sunnyslope, where Uncle Danny was living. He was also very sleepy, and would ask that Praetor help him lie down on the couch to sleep before he left to go back to the hotel.

Praetor’s hotel room had a false wall next to a portrait of George Washington, and inside of it was a cedar closet with a locked safe. The closet was full of items once owned by Grandmother Virginia and Grandpa Loos. There was a variety of knickknacks, jewelry, photographs, and papers. Some of these papers included evidence of Grandpa Loos’s secret life.

Suddenly he remembered that he had brought the Baby Elephant with him in his suitcase. He heard voices in the hall and decided to hide it in the safe in a brown paper bag.

Now there are people in the room with him, a man and a woman. They sleep next to him in the bed, but he doesn’t know them. Praetor recalled a vague sense that they were each involved with a different “faction” that wanted the Baby Elephant, but were pretending to be film reviewers. He lied and told them he was Bill Murray’s cousin, but he didn’t know why he did that. The woman tried to tell him to stop writing, and that words were ultimately meaningless. Praetor screamed "but they have relative, relational, positional, and even ritual meanings!" and she showed him a video in which words melted into chaotic hieroglyphs.

Praetor returned to Sunnyslope to find that Uncle Danny had died, laid out on the couch. He placed a blanket over his body and returned to the hotel.

Nearly everything in the closet was gone, including the Baby Elephant. All that was left was a small wooden mouse figurine and a shopping list in Grandmother Virginia’s handwriting. He took these with him as evidence that he had found something in the closet.

Robert came to pick him up in a Ford SUV. Praetor told him about what had happened and they immediately returned to the hotel, but the room he had stayed in no longer existed. It was now a private gentlemen’s club called “The Port” where men sat smoking cigars on red leather sofas. Praetor recognized one of them as Jeremy Hunt, but he said, “No, I’m Jeremiah, not Jeremy.” JEREMIAH HUNT resounded in his mind. He opened the door to the closet.

Inside was a man he identified as a train conductor, perhaps because the closet was no longer a closet but rather some kind of transport capsule. He seemed to have been expecting him. He told Praetor that the objects were gone, but that if he wanted to know the truth, he should know a few things. The first, and most important, was “Washington, NJ.” It’s very, very important that you look at Washington, NJ. He then handed him a small collection of rings with the initials S.G. engraved on them. The transport capsule began to move.

Suddenly Praetor is in a large marble room filled with Renaissance paintings he has never seen before. In fact, the paintings do not exist. There was a curved double staircase, very much like the one at the Knick, that went up to a second level with more paintings. He realized this was Grandpa Loos’s secret apartment in the city. There was a door to the outside showing the address “11 Lincoln Square,” and outside the door was a massive circular garden, miles in diameter, with a gothic cathedral dome in the center. Praetor tried to get a full glimpse of it, but whenever he moved, part of it was occluded. It was impossible to see fully. Behind it was a replica of Osaka Castle. He understood that this space was interdimensional, and yet also inside of the Met, and it was referred to as “The Garden at the Center of the World.”

Praetor walked around the garden until he saw someone, a portly half-Japanese man who looked like Uncle Bob. He asked him if he had the rings. He looked in his bag, but they were gone.

[colorcodedmess]

Heroes of Olympus Portrait No. 7: The Things We Are

Reyna Ramirez-Arellano (2018)

Also, check out The Things We:

Become (Frank)  +  Burn (Leo)  +  Deserve (Calypso)  +  Endure (Jason) + Treasure (Hazel)  +  Drown (Percy)  +  Love (Piper)  +  Know (Annabeth)  +  Bury (Nico)

[goldstarknight]

Phyrexian Portraits (2024)

Some are a bit obscure, but they all have cards. :)

Done in the style of the Pokémon PSS from gen 6.

[yournextflame]

I didn’t expect that a simple attempt to figure out why is there a portrait of Radahn in Volcano Manor and what were the relationships between two brothers would lead me to a massive brain rot about Miquella’s kidnapping. 

First thing I noticed is that Redmane (Radahn’s) and Gelmir (Rykard’s) knights are wearing armor sets very similar to Cuckoo Knights, who served Caria Royal Family, except their plumes are red.

The red plume is a symbol of Radahn's pedigree as Lord Radagon's son - the mane of the proud Red Lion

Helm worn by knights once loyal to Praetor Rykard. Its crest of red feathers symbolizes Rykard's pedigree as Lord Radagon's son

Radahn was amongst the children of Rennala and Radagon, who became demigod stepchildren after Radagon's union with Queen Marika

Rykard and Radahn both were close enough during their youth. Still, I was suprised when I found that Rykard... probably assisted Radahn in a war against Malenia as well?

I noticed that the spawns of Abductor Virgin are usually associated with Carian family - Raya Lucaria, Caria manor, Volcano Manor, etc. In Caelid that thing is is located near the entrance of Abandoned cave, where you can find Cleanrot Knights and Serpent Bow.

Malformed bow in the shape of a pair of poisonous snakes. Imbues arrows with poison through pagan magic, revealing its true worth when used with poison-infused arrows. Used by assassins known as the Formless Serpents.

Arrow carved to resemble a flying snake. Used in tandem with the Serpent Bow. Loyal minions of the Formless Serpents, their fangs are daubed with deadly poison.

The arrows is a common drop from the Serpent Snails, they can be found in Nokstella and Volcano Manor. They are also dropped from Skeletal Snails, but their spawn points are completely random. 

At first it’s easy to assume that Rykard probably helped Radahn to stand against Malenia, considering their most likely close relationships. But Rykard minions are always called Man-Serpents and the word “Formless” is strictly associated with the certain outer god...

And then I’ve found it! Right on the way to the Rykard’s arena.

Dagger Talisman - a talisman depicting a dagger and a surgeon. Enhances critical hits.

The white-garbed field surgeons come to the aid of friend and foe alike by dealing a final deadly thrust to spare them from the prolonged agony of a mortal wound. A sense of mercy is a catalyst for bloodlust.

Of the surgeons that were abducted by the Lord of Blood none were able to tame the accursed blood.

THE PLOT TICKENS

Festering Bloody Finger -  This furled finger is blackened with blood congestion. It seems to have been chopped off rather unceremoniously

Recusant Finger -  This furled finger is covered in snake scales. An heirloom of the lord of the Volcano Manor, bequeathed to Tarnished who have become family

I can’t help, but I feel like there was definitely something going on between Mogwyn dynasty, Volcano Manor and Radahn. 

Radahn - he is brother of Rykard, Miquella’s cacoon is placed right under his arena, he fought Malenia, and there are surprisingly many spawns of Miquella's Lily in Caelid

Rykard - brother of Radahn, who despite his blasphemy, still valued their relationships? What’s deal with him and Mohg? What is the origin of the Formless Serpents? Were they created by both - Rykard and Mohg? 

Mohg’s relationships with Miquella are well-known, but I can’t find any traces of Rykard or Radahn in his areas. Maybe he simply stole what was already stolen?

And why are there no items in Haligtree, belonging to anyone I mentioned above?

[savysami]

Introducing... The Praetor - the newest addition to the Olympian Collection. She’s for sale on savysami.com, link on my page! Explanation below! Reyna is suited up in Roman training armor. Her left sleeve has the praetor eagle with lightning for Jason, her dogs, Lupa for her time with the wolves, and circe’s island with her and her sister Hylla falling under the water. If you move up the sleeve you can see her journey from a young girl to a legionnaire. She has several quotes in Latin, and I’ll translate them all in a YouTube video, but my favorite says “a wolf is not afraid of a barking dog”. She also has a bow and arrow made of a moon, alluding to her joining the Hunters of Artemis, and a portrait of Bellona on her thigh. She has her dog’s names up on her collarbone, a portrait of her Pegasus on her forearm, a purple 12 that matches with Jason, and magnolias on her shoulder with her sister’s name (a happy memory from her childhood in Puerto Rico). She also has her lifetime band around her arm, her SPQR tattoo, and a tattoo in Spanish on her ribs that says “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light” with a Roman numeral 7, a testament to the Argo crew and to Nico specifically. Hope you guys like this one!

[blasphemousclaw]

wtf is going on with Rykard’s hair

So, I finally took it upon myself to make a post laying out the entire Rykard hair color situation, and going over and assessing the potential theories about what’s going on here. For context, the general fan consensus had been that Rykard’s hair was red like his father and siblings. It makes sense for all their hair colors to match, and if we look at the descriptions of both the Redmane Knight helm and the Gelmir Knight helm, they read:

“Helm worn by knights who fought by General Radahn's side. The red plume is a symbol of Radahn's pedigree as Lord Radagon's son - the mane of the proud Red Lion.” (Redmane Knight Helm)

“Helm worn by knights once loyal to Praetor Rykard. Its crest of red feathers symbolizes Rykard's pedigree as Lord Radagon's son.” (Gelmir Knight Helm)

The portraits of Rykard displayed in Volcano Manor also seemingly did not contradict this interpretation, since the lighting in the Manor is strongly tinted red:

However, two images started floating around: in this image, from the Elden Ring manga, the colorist depicted Rykard’s hair as blond.

We don’t know if this character design was their personal interpretation or if this was specified directly to them by Fromsoft, but it is significant nonetheless.

Then there is this image, which includes the image files of the Volcano Manor portraits taken directly from the game (free from the influence of the Manor’s red-tinted light).

It shows that Rykard’s hair was painted as pale and slightly golden, in stark contrast to his brother Radahn’s darkly saturated red hair.

In retrospect, we can also look at the art of Rykard’s severed head from the game’s opening, and there appears to be several pale hairs across his face.

So we can reasonably conclude that, at least at this point in Rykard’s life, his hair is inarguably pale-colored, not red like his family members. However, this doesn’t rule out the idea that his hair has changed color over time. Let’s go over some different theories about where this pale hair color might come from…

First, I’m going to start out with two theories that I think can reasonably be dismissed.

The painting is aged

It has been argued that the color of Rykard’s portrait could have faded and made his hair less pigmented. However, I don’t think this is a good argument because in the same painting, we can see that the red gems in his sword are still quite pigmented. Furthermore, Rykard has multiple other paintings as we have seen, such as the painting of Radahn, that do not appear to have lost significant pigment (plus, the other portrait of Rykard is painted in the exact same colors as the first portrait). Lastly, this theory doesn’t account for the pale hairs present in Rykard’s intro art.

Rykard himself is aged

Many people have interpreted Rykard’s pale hair color as due to age, but I have problems with this theory. It doesn’t make any sense for Rykard to have aged significantly, because neither Radahn nor their parents look aged at all. Rennala doesn’t even have godly blood, but she looks like she hasn’t aged a day since she became queen! Why would Rykard be the only one in their family to get old??? It’s true though that in his portraits, his face looks pretty, for lack of a better term, fucked up. But I have another idea about that which I’ll talk about towards the end… I honestly don’t think he looks particularly old, I think it’s more to do with whatever the hell is going on with his skin. Also, to me, his hair here doesn't really look like it's greying, it looks like it's tinted gold.

With those theories out of the way, here are the theories that I think we can seriously consider.

Rykard was always blond

The main evidence for this theory is that according to Miriel, “Lord Radagon harbored a secret,” which was discovered by a sculptor of the capital. We can then investigate the statue in Leyndell and come to the conclusion that Radagon is Marika. While Radagon was married to Rennala, he ordered the preceptors to don masks with the mouths sewn shut with golden thread “To make it clear that all of their matters were to be kept strictly private.” I interpret Radagon’s extreme secrecy as him hiding the truth that he and Marika are one. Radagon and Marika as one being produced twin children, Malenia and Miquella, of which one has Radagon’s red hair and the other has Marika’s pale gold hair. So I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Radagon, who is Marika, could have had a child with Rennala who has Marika’s gold hair.

Some counter-evidence to this theory is again, the description of the Gelmir Knight helm: “Helm worn by knights once loyal to Praetor Rykard. Its crest of red feathers symbolizes Rykard's pedigree as Lord Radagon's son.” This item description definitely can be interpreted as evidence that Rykard indeed inherited Radagon’s red hair, and is invoking it in the design of his soldiers’ helms to draw a connection between himself and his father.

However, I don’t think the use of this symbol necessarily means that Rykard had to have Radagon’s hair color himself. Radagon’s red hair is his defining feature (“Radagon’s glory burns as red as his hair”), so using it as a symbol invokes him and his prowess on the battlefield… which benefits Rykard and Radahn, because they want people to think of Radagon’s strength when they see their armies. In other words, the red plumes could just be the statement “Radagon, the famed warrior, is my father” and not necessarily “Radagon, the famed warrior, is my father and I look just like him.” Interestingly, the Redmane Knight Helm also includes an extra line: “The red plume is a symbol of Radahn's pedigree as Lord Radagon's son - the mane of the proud Red Lion.” The last line here specifically mentions Radahn’s own red hair, but the Gelmir Knight helm has no such reference to Rykard’s hair… perhaps because his hair isn’t actually red?

One side note to discuss… I’ve seen it said that Rennala is actually blond, so Rykard might have inherited it from her. However, this is only a trick of the light — Rennala’s hair is very clearly meant to be brown, which can look either very dark or very light depending on the lighting. Rennala’s hair in her concept art/in-game portrait is unequivocally brown:

Rykard’s whole appearance changed

This is the last theory I have… which is that Rykard’s hair color used to be red like his family, but changed as a result of his involvement with the Great Serpent. If we take a closer look at Rykard’s in-game art, there’s a lot of questionable things about his face:

He’s got frighteningly dark eye sockets. His beard and other parts of his face seem to be scaly and fleshy, almost looking like flaps of skin. And in the intro art, his eyes have turned black with a yellow iris, like how we see him in his boss fight.

I’m not sure exactly how, but I think it’s possible that Rykard’s appearance had been somehow drastically altered even before he was devoured… perhaps he could have made some kind of pact with the serpent god that had some physical effects on him? Or if he somehow altered his face himself, in order to appear closer to the serpent and to better embody it? Any of these transformations of his face could also have included a drastic lightening of his hair, who can say for sure?

A counter-argument to this idea is that some of the stranger features of his face might only be artistic, and are not meant to be taken literally… they could be symbolic representations, meant to show his connection and dedication to the path of the serpent.

Conclusion

I can see either of these theories about Rykard’s hair being true, we just don’t have enough information at the moment to explain why he looked the way he did… maybe we will eventually?