History Characters / DarkSoulsMainCharactersAndLords

** Not to mention that Gwyn made him a [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Duke]]!

* AntiVillain: He's easy to see as this. He treated humanity and [[AbusiveParents his own children]] unjustly, and his actions had many consequences, but he successfully created the booming civilization of Anor Londo, a new era for life to prosper, and ultimately performed the most heroic act the setting can allow for — [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice burning in fire for eternity to protect the rest of the world]]]]. Assuming he didn't do most of it for his own pride, which would just make all of this EvilVirtues instead.

* AssholeVictim: Unlike Nito, who just wanted to be left alone, Gwyn, who sacrificed everything in the futile attempt to continue the reign of his family, the Witch of Izalith, who was consumed by the Flame of Chaos, Seath the Scaleless has little to no redeemable qualities both in-gmae and in-lore, being an EvilSorceror and MadScientist who betrayed his own kind out of spite, assisted their enemies in a genocide against the dragons, and performed depraved experiments of humans. [[spoiler: If you believe the theory that Priscilla is his spawn, he also raped at least one woman, maybe Gwynevere due to the painting of Aramais being in her cathedral]].

* GodIsFlawed: While Gwyn did many heroic things, and was by all accounts a good Lord, he was a rather bad father, and was quite paranoid about ''all'' things related to the dark.

* DefectorFromDecadence: The other Primordial Serpents apparently view him as a traitor for siding with the gods and helping prolong the Age of Fire, but given that [[spoiler:their preferred alternative may end up corrupting people into eldritch monstrosities]], it's hard to hold it against him too much. [[spoiler:He does rejoin his brethren if you go for the Dark Lord ending, though. Although it's up for interpretation if he isn't going to try to find another Gwyn to end your Age of Dark, as implied to have happened before.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Says this is the case for the lords he sends you to kill, apart from the ones that have "fallen to wickedness."

* AmbiguouslyEvil: He claims to be working for humanity's best interests and makes some good points about how [[spoiler:the Age of Fire is already on its last legs]] but historically people who followed his advice were driven mad by the powers he encouraged them to wield. Later lore in the series averts this, making it clear that he has validity to his claims.
* BigGood: What he tries to present himself as in comparison to Frampt. Should you side with him, he acts as your guide to [[spoiler:becoming the Dark Lord and ushering in an age of man]]. Going in fresh, it can be unclear as to how honest he's being, though and the game still leaves him in a state where it isn't clear how good he is.

* DarkIsNotEvil: {{Invoked}}. Kaathe does his best to convince the Chosen Undead that the Dark is not something really to fear outright by elaborating that it is supposed to be a natural part of the world. Later pieces of lore across the series imply that he is relatively correct; [[spoiler:Gwyn linking the fire to humanity screwed up the natural order of the world and shackled humanity to become undead and hollow.]] He's also arguably more honest and upfront than Frampt as well, but the player is left to decide how true he is.

** [[spoiler:Even long after his apparent demise he casts a shadow in ''III''. The Sable Church and the sinister kingdom of Hollows, Londor, was founded by three sisters who were loyal to him.]]

* MrExposition: If one believes that he's being honest, then he's pretty much the only one who actually explains what's really going on. However, his explanations of the way the world really works [[UnreliableExpositor tend to contain some troubling omissions and sound a little too good to be true]]. [[spoiler:The Artorias of the Abyss DLC confirms that at best he's omitting the repeated disasters his methods have caused, and at worst they are his true aim.]]

* VillainousLegacy: In ''Videogame/DarkSoulsIII'', [[spoiler:Londor the Kingdom of Hollows and its Sable Church are Kaathe's legacy. Though he is long dead by this point, the Sable Church still works to bring the true Age of Dark. In one ending, they succeed and raise up the Unkindled to be their gracious Lord who will make Londor whole.]]

** If the state of the world by the time of the games beginning is any indication, Gwyn's [[spoiler: sacrifice]] accomplished basically nothing. The gods of Anor Londo abandoned the city, mankind is now plagued by undead soul eaters called Hollows and demons are beginning to pour out of Lost Izalith despite his efforts to contain them. The only upside seems to be that everyone still thinks he's running the show and burning for all eternity.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Despite most characters speaking of Gwyn as a benelovent father figure of a god, it's not difficult to draw the conclusion that he was a man (or [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giant]] rather) who was obsessed with being at the top of the Pyramid. Whether it's as god-king of mankind, slayer of dragons or Greatest of the Lords. He was so terrified at the prospect of losing his power, that he [[spoiler:turned himself into kindling for the First Flame and created the Undead Curse.]]

* AntiVillain: He's easy to see as this. He treated humanity and [[AbusiveParents his own children]] unjustly, and his actions had many consequences, but he successfully created the booming civilization of Anor Londo, a new era for life to prosper, and ultimately performed the most heroic act the setting can allow for - [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice burning in fire for eternity to protect the rest of the world]]]]. Assuming he didn't do most of it for his own pride, which would just make all of this EvilVirtues instead.

* TheDeterminator: Gwyn's single greatest strength, as well a his greatest flaw, is he will '''never''' let the Age Of Fire die. Immortal Dragons ruling over the world? Form a massive, combined force with all the other lords, and destroy these supposedly ''immortal'' things. [[spoiler:Fire fading? ''Throw himself'' to the flames, and burn in eternal agony. The person who's killed all the other lords comes to the Kiln? Blindly charge at them with a flaming sword, and throw yourself into a deathmatch you're unlikely to win. After ''thousands'' if not ''tens of thousands'' of years, the flame is threatened by an Unkindled? ''Manifest yourself'' and charge in to defend it one final time, stronger than ever.]] No matter what happens, Gwyn will never backs down.
* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Sacrificed everything he had to link the flame and prolong the Age of Fire a while longer]], an act which the opening narration plainly states could only be delaying the inevitable. And when the [[spoiler: Soul of Cinder's power starts to wither, it calls upon his soul to fight. In the end, and for the same reason, Gwyn becomes the final opponent to both the Chosen Undead and the Ashen One.]]
* DestructiveSavior: Potentially. [[spoiler:Gwyn's actions to prevent the fading of the First Flame saved the world as we know it, but the world wasn't exactly in great shape and has only gotten worse. Ultimately it's a matter of personal opinion whether it would have been better or worse to simply let everything end. People's lives are now full of oppressive misery and despair, but are they so bad it would have been better that they had never been born?]]

* EverybodyLovesZeus: While many characters like to spin Gwyn as a righteous god-king and architect for a world of light and beauty, various other characters (many of which [[UnreliableExpositor who may or may not be trustworthy]]) claim that this is a case of WrittenByTheWinners. [=Darkstalker=] Kaathe accuses him of being a liar and a schemer, the war he and the other gods declared on the Everlasting Dragons being an unprovoked declaration of supremacy. [[spoiler:He allowed the pygmies into his armies, but because of their association with the dark, he did everything he could to keep the undying primordial humans out of the way, giving them the Ringed City to be their prison and branding them with a circle of fire, which turned what was supposed to be TheSacredDarkness into the Abyss, the Undead curse and everything else that turned his kingdom into a CrapsackWorld it the first place.]]

** Considering he liked to use the BoltOfDivineRetribution before he hollowed, he could also be one to [[Myth/GreekMythology Zeus]], if only toned down a bit on his [[JerkassGods asshole]] level. [[spoiler: Or depending on how you read his [[AbusiveParents treatment of his children]] and how his hubris led to the events of the entire series, maybe not toned down at all.]]

** He utterly ''hates'' dragons, with the sole exception being Seath the Scaleless. On top of the war with the Everlasting Dragons, he and his warriors also seemed to hunt other Dragonkin for sport. As revealed in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', the real reason why he ended up disowning his Firstborn was because he [[spoiler: fraternized with dragons.]]

* TheGoodKing: ''Age of Fire'' reveals that he ''actually'' [[PetTheDog did care for his human subjects quite a bit]] sending his legions of Silver Knights to protect them from harm, even sending them to rescue people kidnapped by Seath. Enough that the Silver Knights actually grew discontent at Gwyn helping humans at the expense of them.

** In ''The Ringed City'' DLC it's shown that [[spoiler:Gwyn put a seal on the ancient Pygmies to repress the power of their Dark souls, one that strongly resembles the Darksign. The implication appears to be Gwyn's seal prevented humanity from being able to control the Dark and as such is responsible for not only the undead "curse" but also the destruction caused by the Abyss.]]

** Gwyn [[ZigZaggedTrope zigzags]] this with PetTheDog with his treatment of the [[spoiler:Pygmies, as ''The Ringed City'' reveals. Yes, their accomplishments were intentionally removed because of his fear their control of Dark. Yes he put a ''branding of fire'', aka. ''[[{{Curse}} the Darksign]]'' to seal the Abyss within them, possibly spawning the Undead Curse. But he ''did'' give them a massive beautiful city to call their own as a home, crowned several prominent members Lords in their own right, and gifted them his beloved youngest daughter, whom the Pygmies and Ringed Knights grew to ''adore'' and protect. Ultimately, the zigzag lands on "Kick" instead of "Pet" because while Gwyn rewarded the Pygmies, he also levied severe restrictions upon them and had ulterior motives behind said gifts out of fear for the Dark Soul within them.]]
** On a non-[[spoiler:Pygmy]] related note, Gwyn's treatment of [[spoiler:his son, Gwyndolin. The boy was born a moonlight sorcerer, and instead of simply accepting this, [[AbusiveParents Gwyn's perception of moonlight sorcery as being a womanly art led him to force his child to act, dress, and look like a woman, to the point of forcing him to wear a ring that altered the way he moved]]. The fact that Gwyndolin is so fiercely loyal to his father after this horrific treatment says a lot, [[LoveMakesYouCrazy one way]] or [[StockholmSyndrome another.]]]]

* LightIsNotGood: Gwyn is the single greatest example of it in the series. He may defeated the dragons, brought order to the world, and [[{{Determinator}} willingly sacrificed himself]] to preserve the Age of Fire. [[spoiler:But his utter refusal to ever view [[DarkIsNotEvil the abyss]] as anything a threat to be eliminated is the primary reason for why nearly ''everything'' bad in the series happened in the first place]] .

* OddFriendship: While the rest of Anor Londo barely tolerated him, Gwyn seems to have genuinely liked (or at least respected) Seath, enough to give him a piece of Gwyn's own Lord Soul. Frampt refers to Seath as "Lord Gwyn's former confidant."

* VillainousLegacy: Played straight, and Inverted, as Gwyn has ''both'' a villainous legacy and a heroic legacy. Villainous in [[spoiler:the whole cycle, noble-intentions or not, is ''his'' fault, as is all the destruction it caused]]; heroic in [[spoiler:the Lords of Cinder, a line of Lords and heroes who selflessly submit themselves to the flame]].

* ActionSurvivor: In a land where even the weakest enemy can kill a heavily armed and armored knight without too much effort, you WILL have to use every underhanded, cheap tactic at your disposal to survive against monsters and gods that can kill you with the flick of a finger.

* TheChosenOne: Played with, and possibly DoubleSubverted. At first, it seems that the Undead Hero is Gwyn's successor according to Frampt, who claims to be an old friend of the Lord of Sunlight. [[spoiler:Except that it's false according to Kaathe, who claims that the Undead Hero is instead supposed to be the next Dark Lord.]] Even then, there's an implication that the title of Chosen Undead [[TheUnchosenOne is granted to whatever Undead manages to earn it, rather than them actually being chosen.]] However, with Solaire, Lautrec, and Tarkus, who have their own world where they are the warriors with the most HeroicWillpower who are trying to become Gwyn's successor ([[spoiler:as well as the fact Solaire links the fire if he fights Gwyn with the Chosen Undead]]), it seems that there might be a chosen one for every world, or with the success of the Chosen Undead, there is only one "true" chosen one among them all.

* CuttingOffTheBranches: [[spoiler:The heavy implication that the Chosen Undead forms a large portion of the FinalBoss in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' would imply that the canon ending to this game is Linking the Fire, as the Soul of Cinder is formed from the combined power and souls of everyone that ever Linked the Fire.]] But then again, considering the TimeyWimeyBall nature of the universe, it's quite possible that [[spoiler:the Soul of Cinder is merely every Chosen Undead to have ever Linked the Fire across all time.]]

* HeroKiller: It is perfectly possible to kill several heroic figures during the course of the game, though it does depend somewhat on how noble you interpret certain characters to be and in some cases it can be justifiably considered self-defense. Most notably, with the release of the [[DownloadableContent Artorias of the Abyss DLC]], it is now possible to kill not only Ornstein (which is necessary), but the other three of the four knights of Gwyn as well.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: As Dark Souls II and one of it's DLCs reveal, killing Manus, Father of the Abyss did the world more harm than good in the long term, leading to at least two of the shards Manus split into to wreak havoc in a kingdom each. (The third tried, but the Iron King mucked his kingdom up all on his own, and Karla and Alsanna aren't evil)

* RogueProtagonist: In a fashion; [[spoiler:the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' is the corporeal manifestation of everyone that ever Linked the Fire, and assuming that the player linked the First Flame at the game's conclusion, then that includes the Chosen Undead.]]

** Both of them are involved in one, but neither ''seems'' to support the other's goal. [[spoiler:Put simply, Kaathe is working to begin the Age of Dark, using the Darkwraiths to steal Humanity and snuff out the First Flame, with his efforts often turning humans into deranged beasts if New Londo and Oolacile are anything to go by, although that's likely unintentional. Frampt seeks to preserve the Age of Fire by having you replace Gwyn, but it is later revealed that the "Chosen Undead" prophecy was fabricated to lure undead to Lordran so their humanity could be used to kindle the bonfires and keep the First Flame lit a while longer until one undead manages to replace Gwyn, resulting in said undead being used to fuel the First Flame with their humanity. This is later muddied further when, if the Dark Lord ending is chosen, Frampt will rejoin his brethren to crown you as the new Lord of the Age of Dark, implying that Frampt was going along with Kaathe's plan the whole time even while telling you how to keep the Age of Fire going.]]
** Both can give off whiffs of TheCon: short con, long con, possibly a two-man con if some theories are remotely correct... You're being carefully played, whichever one you deal with, whatever their reasons and whether you can even partly agree with them or not. Frampt hits you with the high-minded, goal-orientated confidence style; Kaathe goes for what looks like the more honest, if outwardly underhanded one. On the surface, at least.

* EveryoneHasStandards: If there's one thing that they can both agree on, it's in their disdain for Seath. Kaathe is open about it, referring to him contemptuously as "the traitor." Frampt, however, is more subtle; while he describes Seath diplomatically as "Gwyn's former confidante," he makes his true opinion clear with how little the scaleless dragon's soul is worth to him.

* ManipulativeBastard: Both Kaathe and Frampt to a certain degree, considering [[spoiler:the former has facilitated the spread of the Abyss twice in the past, while the latter is one part of the forged "Chosen Undead" prophecy that, if followed to its conclusion, ends with you being used to fuel the First Flame until some other poor schmuck comes to take your place and perpetuate a cycle that will eventually end regardless.]]
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Their giant broad teeth are easily their most defining feature, and even as they talk to you you can hear these chompers clacking away as they move their mouths.

* {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler: He is quick to denounce and demonize Frampt and anything the latter says to the Chosen Undead, and yet Kaathe himself also deceives and manipulates the Chosen Undead as well]].

* EverybodyLovesZeus: While many characters like to spin Gwyn as a righteous god-king and architect for a world of light and beauty, various other characters (many of which [[UnreliableNarrator who may or may not be trustworthy]]) claim that this is a case of WrittenByTheWinners. [=Darkstalker=] Kaathe accuses him of being a liar and a schemer, the war he and the other gods declared on the Everlasting Dragons being an unprovoked declaration of supremacy. [[spoiler:He allowed the pygmies into his armies, but because of their association with the dark, he did everything he could to keep the undying primordial humans out of the way, giving them the Ringed City to be their prison and branding them with a circle of fire, which turned what was supposed to be TheSacredDarkness into the Abyss, the Undead curse and everything else that turned his kingdom into a CrapsackWorld it the first place.]]

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female bearer of a Lord Soul; it might be TwoGirlsToATeam, since the Pygmy's gender is ambiguous.

* TheArchMage: Say what you will about Seath, but founding an entire school of magic can't have been an easy feat.

* LargeAndInCharge: At about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9qYyw3w6s8&t=1m15s 8'6"]], he towered over even his Silver and Black Knights (themselves close to eight feet), much less his human subjects. When going up against him at the end of the game, you can see that the Chosen Undead's shoulders are about level with his waist. [[spoiler:Still not as tall as the Nameless King, though, who's nearly 10 feet. So is Dragonslayer Ornstein, and Smough is 15 feet. And maybe not as tall as his Giant-sized daughter Gwynevere, depending on how accurate Gwyndolin's illusion was. Though, Gwyn may also have been taller before he became a Lord of Cinder.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: The nature of Seath's insanity isn't elaborated upon. Despite becoming an undead, he's never described as having gone [[InsaneEqualsViolent hollow]], and he seemingly possesses a degree of lucidity considering [[spoiler: he's clever enough to trap the player with a Bonfire after killing them]]. On the other hand, simply [[BrownNote reading his notes]] is enough to drive somebody off the deep end, something [[spoiler: Big Hat Logan and [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII King Oceiros]]]] learn the hard way. ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' somewhat clarifies it - Sweet Shalquoir states that his madness manifested as a desperate obsession with the scales he sought, and he is ''at least'' sane enough to remember that he hates dragons, [[spoiler: something that the giant dragon corpse in Brightstone Cove Tseldora can attest to]].

* WalkingSpoiler: Despite not appearing in the game proper, his existence is perhaps the most crucial plot point in the entire story, as it is impossible to talk about it without giving away the fact that [[spoiler:it's the other face of the coin in the debate over whether or not the Age of Fire should continue, with the opposite being Gwyn's struggle to prolong it, which is another major spoiler]]. Then, there's the possibility of him [[spoiler:having turned into Manus, Father of the Abyss]], [[UpToEleven which is an even bigger bag of spoilers]].

* {{Walking Spoiler}}s: You do not learn about them until you speak to Ingward, who briefs you on the situation in New Londo. The fact that [[spoiler:they have been corrupted by the Art of Lifedrain introduced by Kaathe]] [[UpToEleven also turns the latter into one]].

* BishonenLine: In spite of their heavy corruption from the Abyss and the rest of their bodies being quite eldritch looking, their heads and faces are those of {{Long Haired Pretty Boy}}s, albeit with some very evil looking horns. Compare this with the regular Darkwraiths, who have a SkullForAHead.

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X39HV_s0RdI "Gravelord Nito"]], a haunting piece which features an equally foreboding chorus and and eerie wail that imitates the wind.

* {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler: He is quick to denounce and demonize Frampt and anything the ladder says to the Chosen Undead, and yet Kaathe himself also deceives and manipulates the Chosen Undead as well]].

** Considering he liked to use the BoltOfDivineRetribution before he hollowed, he could also be one to [[Myth/GreekMythology Zeus]], if only toned down a bit on his [[JerkassGods asshole]] level. [[spoiler: Or depending on how you read his [[AbusiveParents treatment of his children]] and how his hubris lead to the events of the entire series, maybe not toned down at all.]]

* EldritchAbomination: There really is no telling just ''what the hell they are''. The serpents are barely mentioned at all in the StoryBreadcrumbs of all three games, which only makes it seem as though they [[OutsideGenreFoe don't quite belong in the world]]. However, they are clearly ancient, very knowledgeable, and have been meddling in the affairs of humans and gods alike for a very long time to fulfill some obscure agenda. They are implied to be massive, but they lurk in the darkest corners of Lordran, only appearing to mortal eyes when they wish to be seen, and it's up in the air if they can even die or turn hollow like nearly everything else. Whatever the Primordial Serpents are, they clearly operate on different rules from everything else. Given how Frampt reacts to most things Seath-related should you try to feed him them, it's even possible Serpents are part and parcel of OurDragonsAreDifferent in some way: snakes are mentioned as being lesser dragons, too, in item descriptions... however much you trust those. Which puts an interesting spin on various events, if so.

* OddFriendship: While the rest of Anor Londo barely tolerated him, Gwyn seems to have genuinely liked (or at least respected) Seathe, enough to give him a piece of Gwyn's own Lord Soul. Frampt refers to Seathe as "Lord Gwyn's former confidant."

* GodOfTheDead: Nito, the First of the Dead, has dominion over death, decay, and necromancy, and one of the original Lords that fought against the Eternal Dragons. Subvertedhowever in that rather than preside over an afterlife, Nito prefers to lay at the bottom of a gigantic catacomb underneath Lordran.

* GodOfTheDead: Nito, the First of the Dead, has dominion over death, decay, and necromancy, and one of the original Lords that fought against the Eternal Dragons. Lacking an actual afterlife to preside over, Nito prefers to lay at the bottom of a gigantic catacomb underneath Lordran.

* TheDeterminator: Gwyn's single greatest strength, as well a his greatest flaw, is he will '''never''' let the Age Of Fire. ''Nothing'' can stop him from achieving his goals. Immortal Dragons ruling over the world? Form a massive, combined force with all the other lords, and destroy these supposedly ''immortal'' things. [[spoiler:Fire fading? ''Throw himself'' to the flames, and burn in eternal agony. The person who's killed all the other lords comes to the Kiln? Blindly charge at them with a flaming sword, and throw yourself into a deathmatch you're unlikely to win. After ''thousands'' if not ''tens of thousands'' of years, the flame is threatened by an Unkindled? ''Manifest yourself'' and charge in to defend it one final time, stronger than ever.]] No matter what happens, Gwyn will ''never'' back down.

* TheDeterminator: Gwyn's single greatest strength, and also his greatest flaw, is he ''will not let the flame die''. ''Nothing'' can stop him from achieving his goals. Immortal Dragons ruling over the world? Form a massive, combined force with all the other lords, and destroy these supposedly ''immortal'' things. [[spoiler:Fire fading? ''Throw himself'' to the flames, and burn in eternal agony. The person who's killed all the other lords comes to the Kiln? Blindly charge at them with a flaming sword, and throw yourself into a deathmatch you're unlikely to win. After ''thousands'' if not ''tens of thousands'' of years, the flame is threatened by an Unkindled? ''Manifest yourself'' and charge in to defend it one final time, stronger than ever.]] No matter what happens, Gwyn will ''never'' back down.

* EgomaniacHunter: Has some shades of this, with an entire room in Anor Londo's Cathedral filled with mounted Dragon heads, implied to have been hunted by Gwyn himself.

* LightIsGood: Gwyn originally defeated the dragons, brought order to the world, and sacrificed himself to preserve the Age of Fire. [[spoiler:After burning for so long in the Kiln, [[AndIMustScream however]], he went [[EmptyShell Hollow]], [[LightIsNotGood and the "good" sort of fell off]].]]

* BishonenLine: In spite of their heavy corruption from the Abyss and the rest of their bodies being quite eldritch looking, they still have the heads and faces of {{Long Haired Pretty Boy}}s, albeit with some very evil looking horns. Compare this with the regular Darkwraiths, who have a SkullForAHead.