What do you think is the meaning of Rykard being depicted with two different crowns? Maybe his usual crown is his custom crown and the one he's wearing when he's being eaten is his Demigod crown?
so this is one of those questions where I feel like we can only speculate, but I do have some ideas and opinions…
first I think we should consider an out-of-universe related explanation: it’s possible that these two crown designs are different because they were painted for different purposes, or at different development stages, or by different artists… it could be said that this first piece of art technically does not appear in-universe, since it only appears in the opening cinematic with the introductory voiceover! and that sets it apart from the other crown design, which appears in Rykard’s two portraits hung in Volcano Manor, which are consistent between themselves — the first piece is cinematic art, and the other two portraits are in-world art assets!
since the opening cinematic art pieces are shown alongside a voiceover introducing us, the player, to lore from an age long past, I think it’s totally valid to interpret the art pieces moreso as impressions of legendary events meant to capture the essence of the characters rather than literal, factual depictions. I kind of like this idea of the art being looser with the details because storytelling across the ages is a fluid medium!
but on the other hand, idk anything about fromsoft’s art process so these are all just ideas lol. so of course we need an in-universe explanation too! Rykard is a fancy guy who cares about appearances and knows how to use style to make a statement, it isn’t a stretch to imagine that he’d have multiple crowns. I like the idea that his two crowns are for different symbolic purposes… what if the crown he’s wearing in his portraits was his crown as lord of Volcano Manor, when he still commanded loyalty and respect, but when he went mask-off snake mode, he got a new crown to symbolize his commitment to this path, and he wore it during his ritual sacrifice?
personally, I’ve always drawn Rykard with the crown in his Volcano Manor portraits, just because again, they’re internally consistent with each other, and the other crown design could be interpreted as technically not in-universe, so the first feels a little more of a safe bet to me. also I just prefer it aesthetically lol. but obviously them both being worn by Rykard in-universe is equally as likely, and in-universe vs cinematic art doesn’t necessarily mean canon vs non-canon at all… basically I think it’s up to interpretation, and any interpretation is interesting!
