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Jesus was a casul. The Legend never dies!
Dark Souls, having gained considerable popularity through the sheer amount of mouth-to-mouth praise which cemented its status as a step-up from Demon's Souls (leaping from Sleeper Hit to Breakthrough Hit for FromSoftware), is also prone to spawning endless amounts of memes among gamers. Here is a list detailing them:

General

  • Prepare to Die Explanation 
  • YOU DIED Explanation 
  • "The Dark Souls of X." Explanation 
  • "Every Soul has its Dark." - John Darksoul. Explanation 
  • Calling the series "Stab Old Men to Sad Music"Explanation (spoilers) 
  • Dark Souls logic Explanation 
  • The games feature a Hint System that lets players string together words and phrases from a predefined list to make short messages, which can then be left for other players to read. It naturally has a lot of memes in regards to which messages are left and where, which leak into other forms of online communication.
    • You can write stuff that normally wouldn't be appropriate, such as "Need head" and "Try holding with both hands". The tradition continues with the sequel, giving us such classics as "Beware of toxic, but hole." and "Praise the sun, and then Praise the sun!"
    • Amazing Chest Ahead. Explanation 
      • And in Dark Souls II, "wheel ahead" for Gavlan, referencing his Catchphrase (see below).
    • Players in II often put "horse" at complete random, simply because of how baffling it is that the limited vocabulary would include a "horse" phrase in a game with exactly one horse in it (the DLCs have expanded this to two horses and one respawning horse-like enemy).
    • Don't give up, skeleton! Explanation 
      • This then extended to numerous "Skeleton" messages placed throughout Drangleic, as players either offer advice to or congratulate random skeletons that can be found lying on the ground, as though they are a fellow adventurer. Players on discussion boards will also often refer to each other as "skeleton" in reference to the meme.
    • There's also the ubiquitous "Try Jumping" message, found next to damn near every cliff and Bottomless Pit across all three games.
      • Just as ubiquitous is "Illusory Wall Ahead", found next to nearly every wall except the illusory ones. Since Dark Souls II secret walls are operated with the "interact" button rather than your sword, some enterprising players have even perfected the art of leaving an "illusory wall ahead" message in exactly the spot where, if it was an illusory wall, you'd need to stand to open it, so your attempts to verify it only get the message to pop up again.
    • There is a straight passage with no enemies or hidden areas in the Shaded Woods of the second game where, years ago, a player left a message that simply read "message". Since then, the entire area has devolved into dozens and dozens of messages warning you of messages, or warning you of warnings of messages.
      • This has been extended to apply to the winding, uneventful passage leading to the Huntsman's Copse, also in the second game.
  • Never alone. Explanation 
  • Because the Estus Flask somewhat resembles a bottle of Sunny Delight and its animation is ambiguous due to model limitation (simply being raised to your face when used), it's popularly depicted in fanart as a bottle of Sunny D that one uses by pouring on their face.
  • Let's stare at bricks for 20 minutes.Explanation 
  • Invaded the world of This Troper as a dark spirit. / Invaded by dark spirit That Troper. Explanation 
  • WaifusExplanation 
  • "The flow of time itself is convoluted..."Explanation 
  • "Join Covenant? (Abandons previous Covenant)"Explanation 
  • On April 10, 2019, astronomers released the first ever photo of a black hole, which many quickly compared to the series' signature Darksign.
  • Git gud.Explanation 
  • Dark Soles.Explanation 
  • "Fashion Souls"Explanation 
  • K***ht Explanation 
  • Naked Fuck With A Stick Explanation 
  • YOU DEFEATED/VICTORY ACHIEVED/HEIR OF FIRE DESTROYED/LORD OF CINDER FALLEN Explanation 

Dark Souls

  • Pretty much anything to do with Solaire and the Warriors of Sunlight really stands out:
    • Jolly Cooperation! Explanation 
    • "If only I could be so grossly incandescent!" Explanation 
    • Praise the Sun! Explanation 
      • "Y" Explanation 
      • \[T]/ Explanation 
      • The pose is so recognizable that the Solaire amiibo is crafted in that pose for the Switch release.
  • The tits are a lie. Explanation (spoilers) 
  • "I'm gonna cleave that asshole apart" Explanation 
    • The Bone Zone Explanation 
  • 387, from a video mocking a player doing PVP in the forest, which has no Soul Level restrictions. It's an absurdly high level to PVP with, since the community favors staying in the 100 to 125 range, if not lower.
  • The Mushroom Parents have earned a special notoriety for their first appearance in the game usually ending with most players having their face punched out through the back of their head, but a notable gif of a player choosing to greet them with a "Well! What is it!" gesture (with predictable results) has become particularly famous.
  • While not originating from Dark Souls, "Touch fluffy tail" was readily borrowed from the Monster Girl Quest fandom in association with Priscilla. This then sprung forward to other instances of one's fascination with a Cute Monster Girl's tail in various media.
  • Relatedly, Priscilla's line when you reach her — "This land is peaceful, its inhabitants kind" — is infamous for evoking a Flat "What" reaction from players, who had just fought through that "peaceful" land. Case in point.
  • The number of nicknames for Smough and Ornstein has become a meme, with fans trying to outdo each other in picking more creative and memorable name pairs for the duo.
  • "The Legend Never Dies". Explanation 
    • "Wat r u, casul?" Explanation 
    • "10 DEXTERITY- BUT DON'T TELL ANY1 U LEVELED THAT UP." Explanation 
    • "Wt ring u got bithc?" crops up an awful lot as well. note 
    • "POWER UP THE BASS CANNON... FIRE!" Explanation 
    • "Well? What is it?!" Explanation 
      • This may have become an Ascended Meme in Bloodborne, where you can make the Plain Doll say the line by skipping her normal dialogue on the right syllables, "bearer seek seek lest"-style. note 
    • "I GOT BACK UP AND PWNED HIM." Explanation 
    • "SHIVA THE EAST? MORE LIKE SHIVA THE DECEASED LOL" Explanation 
    • For those that don't know, here's the basics for a Giantdad.
  • THE WALL Explanation 
  • NOPE. Explanation  Further elaboration in video form (first one and a half minutes).
  • Tarkus is better at this game than you. note 
  • Can't stop the Rock. Explanation 
  • You were indicted. Explanation 
  • When I'm Gravelord'n. Explanation 
  • As a crossover meme with Quad City DJs remixes, there's this, with an overabundance of parodied dialogues in the comment section.
  • "Neat" and "Nito" puns are on the rise. note 
  • Ravelord Nito is a popular joke depiction of the Lord of Death, formed by just dropping the "G" from his title of Gravelord.
  • I NEED GRAVITY. Explanation 
  • "Kill the dogs first."Explanation 
  • "IT'S GOT WHAT IT TAKES, SO TELL ME WHYYYYYYYYYY CAN'T THIS BE LOOOOOOOOOOVE?" Explanation 
  • "He stuck his crystal halberd in her gaping dragon." Explanation 
  • "The real Dark Souls starts here." Explanation 
  • "WONDERFUL. GREAT. THANK YOU. I NEEDED MORE FLYING, SIX-LEGGED, TOOTH-FILLED VAGINAS IN MY LIFE."Explanation 
  • Sen's Funhouse. Explanation 
  • "Why's he called Big Hat Logan?" Explanation 
  • Plin-Plin-Plon. Explanation (spoilers) 
  • Male pain noises. Explanation 
  • "If you're fighting skeletons, you went the wrong way."Explanation 
  • "I FORGOT THE DOOOOOLL!!" Explanation 
  • WHEN IT FLOATS DOWNExplanation 

Dark Souls II

  • "Gavlan wheel, Gavlan deal." Explanation 
    • With Gavlan, you wheel? You deal...

  • BEARER SEEK SEEK LEST Explanation 
  • "Don't pull the lever!" Explanation 
  • Ballista whiff/Ballista betrayal Explanation 
  • Shamefur Dispray/Dishonorable Display/Commit Sudoku Explanation 
  • Fuck the Shrine of Amana Explanation 
  • Try torch Explanation 
  • Dying to the Smelter Demon/Smelter Demon Raid Wipe Explanation 
  • Reindeer Funland/Reindeer Fuckland Explanation 
  • FEEBLE CURSED ONE Explanation 
  • Felicia the Fucking Strong/Felicia: 99 STR, 1 INT. Explanation 
  • Everyone hates/loves Maldron the Assassin.Explanation 
    • Taken up to eleven with the Crown of the Ivory King DLC, where Maldron returns, and is somehow even more devious. explanation 
  • The tradition of officially retiring a character by committing suicide (most often seppuku with the bewitched Allone sword) right outside Things Betwixt, so the sheer number of bloodstains will scare new players. Others who choose to exploit the Rings of Life/Soul Protection will make sure their final bloodstain (since dying with the ring on doesn’t move your bloodstain) is there, just to add to the pile. Other players chip in by leaving vague disheartening messages like “despair...” or “I can’t take this...”
  • "Pursuer actually pursues"Explanation 
  • Nearly everything from "Happy Souls", an animated and affectionate parody of Dark Souls II's co-op experience. Some highlights and their origins in the game include:
    • "I'VE GOT BOSS WEAPONS!" Explanation 
    • "Right down the road!" Explanation 
    • "I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME!" Explanation 
    • "Why is everyone stabbing me in the back?" "Cause it's easy. And it does a lot of damage." Explanation 
  • Ill-fitting Aldia exposition. Explanation 
  • SomeBODY once told me... Explanation 
  • Gender Coffin/WHAT THE FUCK?!?!? Explanation 
    • Dark Souls II said trans rightsExplanation 

Dark Souls III

  • Bonfires are the hardest enemy in the series. Explanation 
  • Best Ass in the Boreal Valley Explanation 
  • Catacombs Ledge Mimic is the real MVP!Explanation 
    • Skeleton Gank SquadExplanation 
  • Christmas in YharnamExplanation 
  • Knights give this game a thumbs up!Explanation 
  • Darth Sulyvahn Explanation 
  • While most often in-game Mound Makers players tend to play very similarly to normal invaders, their reputation as the "Mad" covenant leads to quite a few depictions of them being shown as nearly suicidal Stupid Evil.
  • That no pickle-pee. That no pump-a-rum.Explanation 
    • For some reason, the unseen crow is often drawn by fan artists as a Papi-like harpy.
  • Gives me conniptions. Explanation 
  • Kill Emma.Explanation 
  • "Working as intended." Explanation 
  • "Ignorant slaves, how quickly you forget!"Explanation 
  • An ascended meme of sorts: Priscilla from the first game is fairly popular enough for players to wish she had her own covenant, which is reflected in the Priscilla-tan doujinshi. Come the third game, and Yorshka's Darkmoon Blades is the closest we'll ever get to an actual Priscilla-tan covenant.
  • Provide thee succ Explanation 
  • Ashes of Ariandel brought on a couple memes:
    • "MY FLAIL... BRING ME MY FLAIL." Explanation (massive spoilers) 
    • No pants. Explanation 
  • The Ringed City proved to be quite memetic.
    • "Fear not the dark, my friend. And let the feast begin". Explanation 
      • "I SHALL PARTAKE!" Explanation 
    • "Hand it over. That thing, your dark soul. For my lady's painting." Explanation (massive spoilers) 
      • This line in particular has also been the subject of many, many, snowclones, usually photoshopping (or scribbling in MS Paint) Gael's red hood and white beard over the subject of the photo.
    • And if you take a look on your right, you'll see two naked guys fighting over a can of paint! Explanation 
    • THE WALL. AND NOBODY CAN MAKE IT FALL. Explanation 
    • ...And then the host led me to fight Midir. Explanation 
  • Slav Knight Gael Explanation 
  • "Time for crab." Explanation 
  • Plin Plin Plon Explanation (spoilers) 
  • Vordt of the Boreal Valley Explanation 
  • Bloodborne II Explanation 

Go back to the Dark Souls of work pages here.

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