Something I find interesting regarding the Lore of this game is that the Crucible Knights are all said to be soldiers of Godfrey, but Marika is extremely clear about not liking anything to do with the Crucible. They have horns, tails, wings, all stuff the Hornsent liked, but she tried to purge from humanity. It does say that they were scorned after some time, however. But not kicked out of service.
They also apparently didn't follow Godfrey into the Badlands when he was banished, or at least a bunch of them stayed behind when he left.

I don't really know where this goes.
Maybe Godfrey being so animalistic and feral is a sign of him actually having some closer connection to the Crucible. Maybe that is part of what made Marika seek him out as her first Elden Lord.
He gathered a powerful force based on this connection to the Crucible, and this made him the most powerful warlord before Marika's rise. But in the end, the knights themselves were left behind by him when he departed the continent?