History Fridge / DarkSoulsI

** Similarly, the Demon Firesage is weak to fire, despite being wreathed in the stuff, to no ill effect. According to the text on his catalyst, the Demon Firesage is the last peactioner of a fire-based sorcery that preceded pyromancy. One can infer that pyromancy itself constituted an improvement in technique, and thus is effective against him.

* During the opening sequence, the four Bearers of Lord Souls are listed in accordance with how important they are in the story. First, there's Nito, who doesn't do a whole lot aside from sleep in a coffin and lead a covenant. Then, there's the Witch of Izalith, [[spoiler:who accidentally created the Bed of Chaos, which is where all the demons come from]]. Then there's Gwyn, who led the battle against the dragons and started the Age of Fire [[spoiler:and eventually has to use himself as kindling to keep the First Flame going]]. Finally, there's the Pygmy, [[spoiler:and if the WMG page is anything to go by, he had everything planned from the start, and also found the titular Dark Soul, which all humans possess]]. Funny how the most important character in the game is mentioned only once.
* Quelaag [[spoiler:wasn't guarding the Bell of Awakening at all, it just happened to be there. She was defending her defenseless sister from the heavily armed Undead who just broke into their home]].
** Another really brilliant theory is that [[spoiler:since Quelaag's sister will stop mentioning the pain after feeding her enough humanity, it is likely Quelaag set up shop there specifically to kill and steal the humanity of all the undead that march through the area trying to ring the bell]].
* The Crestfallen Warrior describes Frampt as having very terrible breath. The fact that the serpent [[ExtremeOmnivore will eat just about anything]] probably has something to do with this...but if one offers to feed him a Dung Pie, they'll see he offers a surprisingly high price of 200 souls. [[{{Squick}} Frampt must]] ''[[{{Squick}} really]]'' [[{{Squick}} enjoy the taste of fecal matter.]]

** Crosses into FridgeHorror considering the way some items [[spoiler:and enemies]] in the game are implied to have been made.

* Small Fridge: Humanity in soul's shadow form is probably the reason why people from different cultures, even the ones that hide from the gods, can understand each other; absorbing someone else's humanity means you recycle a portion of their skills and individuality into your soul, including a part of being human: speech. Second, the reason why the main character can understand everyone intelligible at any time is because they inherited the dark soul from their ancestors; if the dark soul allows its possessor to produce a (really small) humanity every time they almost go hollow, why not produce a humanity with all languages? That would explain how the main character talks to giant cats and mushrooms.

* One might be surprised that Gwyn is [[spoiler:very weak to fire, while he himself is wielding a burning greatsword and spent an incredible amount of time burning in the Kiln of the First Flame]]. Yet, when you stop to think about it, [[spoiler:by using fire spells and equipment, you are actually making Gwyn burn out faster. The Age of Fire is ending, Gwyn has become Lord of Cinder, and you are accelerating the process by using Pyromancy/fire weapons]]. Just something to consider.

* Witch Beatrice's less-than-stellar performance as a Summon against the [[spoiler:Four Kings]] may have been deliberate on the developers' part: if she had so much difficulty beating them with your help, what the Izalith was she thinking taking them on by herself?! [[spoiler:[[SuicidalOverconfidence No wonder she was killed]].]]

* Frampt sending you to kill Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izalith, the Four Kings, and Seath the Scaleless looks, at first glance, like a pretty straightforward task of recovering the Lord Souls. However, if you look a bit closer, one can note that taking out these entities isn't ''just'' a matter of recovering their Lord Souls. The Four Kings and the Abyss are a serious threat to Anor Londo. The Witch of Izalith is [[spoiler:spawning endless hordes of powerful demons as the Bed of Chaos]]. Seath the Scaleless is completely batshit crazy and conducting horrible experiments right outside the main palace of the gods, and his agents are roaming around the country grabbing victims wherever they can. And while Gravelord Nito is relatively passive, necromancers by the bucketload are camping in the Catacombs and raising their own brands of undead. Remember that Frampt and Gwyndolin are trying to maintain their power in Lordran and the power of the gods in the rest of the world by Linking the Fire, and in order to reestablish that power and rebuild Lordran, they've got to get rid of all these beings who are causing trouble in their backyard. So along comes a badass Chosen Undead who proves his/her willingness to go this far on his/her quest — [[UnwittingPawn an ideal weapon to dispose of these troublemakers....]]
* Gwyn is a bit of an AntiClimaxBoss. While he hits like a freight train and moves fast, it's nothing you haven't dealt with by that point, and far more dangerous and unfair bosses have been pounding you the rest of the way through the game thus far. But this makes sense, as [[spoiler:the Lord Soul that gave him all his power has been bequeathed to Seath the Scaleless and the Four Kings]]. What's left is a crazed old man with a big sword and fire/lightning magic, but little else. If you'd faced Gwyn at his prime....
* [[spoiler:Why is it that darkness, with no more fire, could be good for humans? Because then their humanity won't be used to feed fire anymore.]]

* Some players might find it frustrating or unfair that there are no bonfires to be found in New Londo, especially before a fight as difficult as The Four Kings. However, this is actually an example of forward thinking in both lore and game design, because the whole place was flooded to keep the Abyss from leaking out into the rest of the world. Suddenly, it makes sense that any bonfires that ''did'' exist there have been long since extinguished.

** The above is made even worse by the fact that [[spoiler:Maiden Rhea can be found imprisoned in the Duke's Archives under specific circumstances]].
* In a radio interview, the creators state that the [[spoiler:maggot ending is the happier ending for Solaire, because if you defeat Gwyn with him, he links the fire in his own world]].
** Which still doesn't mean [[spoiler:[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential players won't intentionally get that certain ending]]]]. Still, both are subject to WildMassGuessing.

* It is said that the Undead can never die; well, not truly, anyway. Unless you go hollow, then you can at last become subject to true death. Fall down seven times, stand up eight, but if eight isn't enough, then you'll go hollow and something will turn up eventually to put you down for good, right? Then it can finally, truly end, right? ...Right? [[spoiler:...or perhaps not. Perhaps this is just a comforting illusion perpetuated for the sake of avoiding a harsher reality? Perhaps the mad undead you face aren't the final form of hollowing? Perhaps, after you've lost all your higher motivations as a sapient being, you've still got a way to go in your hollowing, until even the more feral motives driving you to [[AttackAttackAttack attack whoever approaches]] have left you. Perhaps all those corpses you find scattered across Lordran aren't corpses at all, but undead who have gone so hollow they can't even motivate themselves to so much as twitch as you rifle through their pockets? Think about this the next time you visit the [[AndIMustScream graveyard in the painted world]].]]
* How is Rhea, bearer of several powerful miracles, able to be captured by the Channelers? When you first get to the chapel where she resides (after saving her from the Giant's Tomb), there's a Channeler lying in wait.....above and directly behind where she prays. Even if you take that one out, who's to say it doesn't have an unseen replacement? Or a time double, if the time loop theory is true?
** Except for the fact that she is [[spoiler:assassinated by Petrus if you don't purchase all of her miracles. Her inability to fight back against him could possibly be explained that she didn't see the danger until it was too late, and she was inexperienced in melee combat besides.]] The Channelers only abduct her if you buy every miracle she has... meaning [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you bought all of her defenses.]] It's your fault she had nothing left to defend herself with.
** Alternately, we know that miracles are dependent on a person's faith, and while [[GameplayAndStorySegregation you normally can't lose stats]] in ''Dark Souls'', Rhea's faith was pretty roughly tested (if not [[DespairEventHorizon broken]]) by what happened at the Giant's Tomb. She may not be ''able'' to cast those miracles anymore, which is why she's okay with selling them to you [[spoiler:and why she can't use them to defend herself from Petrus or the Channelers]].
* If Knight Kirk [[spoiler:isn't actually a Darkwraith, but a Chaos Servant posing as one]], then that means [[spoiler:he doesn't have a working Red Eye Orb, and therefore he can't invade at will, instead having to make do with cracked orbs like those the player can find. Those orbs are limited per playthrough, so every time he invades someone (like you), he's taking the risk of it being his last one. After you beat him the third time in a row, he stops invading you. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero You made him waste his last orb,]] so he can't keep hunting for the humanity needed to keep his version of the Fair Lady alive.]]

* Consider "Trusty" Patches. His name may seem like an HonestJohnsDalership kinda deal, but think about it this way: Patches appears in nearly every game in the series, and you can always ''trust'' that he'll do the same: Give you a kick, and then becomes a merchant. In a weird way, he's one of the most trustworthy people in the franchise.

* Once you're tasked with getting the Lord Souls, you have four places to get them from, in whatever order you choose: New Londo Ruins, The Duke's Archives, Tomb of the Giants, and Lost Izalith. Considering all the items and [=NPCs=] you find there, these areas seem to have individual focuses for the elements, giving players items for spells and weapon upgrades of the corresponding element. The Duke's Archives focuses on sorceries/intelligence, Tomb of the Giants focuses on miracles/faith, Lost Izalith focuses on pyromancies and fire weapons, and New Londo Ruins focuses on
physical weapon upgrades. These are late-game areas, so by the time they get to them, the average player will likely be working towards a specialized build of some kind. That considered, the option to choose which area to play first is actually a clever game design choice, since it offers players an easy path to get the best late-game items for their build, whatever that build is. In fact, New Londo Ruins can be played through at any time, not just late-game, which makes perfect sense, since a relatively large number of players will be focusing on physical damage rather than elemental damage.

* The [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome popular giantdad build]] relies primarily on a zweihander, heavy armor, and an aggressive style that makes passive, defensive play difficult. Historically, the landsknect, normally armed with halberds and pikes, had designated "double pay men", who were [[ShapedLikeItself paid double for their position]]. Their job was to serve as a vanguard and charge into enemy formations of pikemen with, you guessed it, a zweihander and heavy armor, breaking their ranks. History repeats in ways we might not expect.

** The only characters in the game you are unable to naturally communicate with are an Everlasting Dragon and a sickly God -- both creatures who do not possess their own humanities.

* You know why it seems like your character never turns hollowed no matter how many times they die, or how much souls and humanity they lost? Because you, the player, did not give up. All of the characters that turned hollowed in the game are those who, after receiving enough punishment from the unforgiving world of Dark Souls, slowly turned insane and thus, hollowed. If at any point the player gives up and stops playing the game as a whole, that is when their character starts turning hollowed.

* Frampt sending you to kill Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izalith, the Four Kings, and Seath the Scaleless looks, at first glance, like a pretty straightforward task of recovering the Lord Souls. However, if you look a bit closer, one can note that taking out these entities isn't ''just'' a matter of recovering their Lord Souls. The Four Kings and the Abyss are a serious threat to Anor Londo. The Witch of Izalith is [[spoiler:spawning endless hordes of powerful demons as the Bed of Chaos]]. Seath the Scaleless is completely batshit crazy and conducting horrible experiments right outside the main palace of the gods, and his agents are roaming around the country grabbing victims wherever they can. And while Gravelord Nito is relatively passive, necromancers by the bucketload are camping in the Catacombs and raising their own brands of undead. Remember that Frampt and Gwyndolin are trying to maintain their power in Lordran and the power of the gods in the rest of the world by Linking the Fire, and in order to reestablish that power and rebuild Lordran, they've got to get rid of all these beings who are causing trouble in their backyard. So along comes a badass Chosen Undead who proves his/her willingness to go this far on his/her quest -- [[UnwittingPawn an ideal weapon to dispose of these troublemakers....]]

* Dark Souls is a dark game. Darkness is overcoming everything, as the gods themselves fall and the flames fade. Now, what soul did the Undead inherit again? Darkness Overcomes becomes a whole lot more literal.
* Relatedly, in Kaathe's ending, you become the "Dark Lord" of humanity. Now, most of us have been so spoiled with other fantasy series like ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' or ''Franchise/StarWars'' that "Dark Lord" sounds [[DeadHorseTrope incredibly cliche]], and almost immediately brings to mind the BigBad trope. However, there's a very good reason the writers chose that specific wording. The other god-like beings in this game, namely Gwyn, Nito, the Witch of Izalith, and the Furtive Pygmy, are also referred to as "Lords." Gwyn being the Lord of Sunlight, Nito being Lord of Death, and the Witch of Izalith being Lord of Life, with at least the former two being called by those names in-game. "Dark Lord" just means "Lord of Dark," or whoever has achieved mastery of the Dark Soul (for [[DarkIsEvil evil]] or [[DarkIsNotEvil good]]) and who is on par with the other Lords in strength, which you've [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority proven by personally defeating each and every one of them]] (possibly including your predecessor, if you count Manus as the Pygmy).

* Priscilla sounds like she's out of her mind when she says that the inhabitants of the Painted World of Aramis are peaceful and kind when you had to fight your way through a horde of DemonicSpiders just to get to her. But if you pay attention to the lore, you'll find that she was sealed away with some of her loyal servants. Of course they're peaceful and kind...to ''her''. You, however, are an intruder, and have to be dealt with in order to protect her.

** The Lost Izalith is located directly underneath Anor Londo -- not surprising, considering the (strongly implied) alliance between the Goddess of Life and the God of Light and their respective families. Conversely, Nito (God of Death) and the Witch seem to have tried to place as much stone between themselves as possible.

* Both [[BlackMagicianGirl Witch Beatrice]] and [[SuperStrength Black Iron Tarkus]] are capable of soloing their respective bosses by beating them at their own game -- Beatrice out-spams the Moonlight Butterfly with sorcery, and Tarkus overpowers the Iron Golem through sheer strength -- but die when their [[CripplingOverspecialization highly specialized]] builds can't adapt to other situations. Beatrice is overwhelmed from multiple angles by the Four Kings, and Tarkus falls to an ignoble death thanks to his sluggishness. The Chosen Undead, on the other hand, is almost certainly more versatile, and willing to adapt, as well as change up their gear.

* Once you're tasked with getting the Lord Souls, you have four places to get them from, in whatever order you choose: New Londo Ruins, The Duke's Archives, Tomb of the Giants, and Lost Izalith. Considering all the items and [=NPCs=] you find there, these areas seem to have individual focuses for the elements, giving players items for spells and weapon upgrades of the corresponding element. The Duke's Archives focuses sorceries/intelligence, Tomb of the Giants focuses miracles/faith, Lost Izalith focuses pyromancies and fire weapons, and New Londo Ruins focuses physical weapon upgrades. These are late-game areas, so by the time they get to them, the average player will likely be working towards a specialized build of some kind. That considered, the option to choose which area to play first is actually a clever game design choice, since it offers players an easy path to get the best late-game items for their build, whatever that build is. In fact, New Londo Ruins can be played through at any time, not just late-game, which makes perfect sense, since a relatively large number of players will be focusing on physical damage rather than elemental damage.

*** Ah, Dark Souls, where the less horrifying option is "The giant monster rat was probably just eating human corpses."

* The Purging Stones are extremely important and useful items capable of removing curses, the most debilitating debuff in the game. However, the item description states that humans are powerless against curses and can merely redirect their influence and that the stones were once human or some other creature. When you use a Purging Stone, you aren't erasing the curse but merely directing it towards some already tortured or dead individual. Arstor, the Earl of Carim was a messed up dude.

* It is said that the Undead can never die; well, not truly anyway. Unless you go hollow, then you can at last become subject to true death. Fall down seven times, stand up eight, but if eight isn't enough, then you'll go hollow and something will turn up eventually to put you down for good, right? Then it can finally, truly end, right? ...Right? [[spoiler:...or perhaps not. Perhaps this is just a comforting illusion perpetuated for the sake of avoiding a harsher reality? Perhaps the mad undead you face aren't the final form of hollowing? Perhaps, after you've lost all your higher motivations as a sapient being, you've still got a way to go in your hollowing, until even the more feral motives driving you to [[AttackAttackAttack attack whoever approaches]] have left you. Perhaps all those corpses you find scattered across Lordran aren't corpses at all, but undead who have gone so hollow they can't even motivate themselves to so much as twitch as you rifle through their pockets? Think about this next time you visit the [[AndIMustScream graveyard in the painted world]].]]

* Relatedly, in Kaathe's ending, you become the "Dark Lord" of humanity. Now, most of us have been so spoiled with other fantasy series like ''TheLordOfTheRings'' or ''StarWars'' that "Dark Lord" sounds [[DeadHorseTrope incredibly cliche]], and almost immediately brings to mind the BigBad trope. However, there's a very good reason the writers chose that specific wording. The other god-like beings in this game, namely Gwyn, Nito, the Witch of Izalith, and the Furtive Pygmy, are also referred to as "Lords." Gwyn being the Lord of Sunlight, Nito being Lord of Death, and the Witch of Izalith being Lord of Life, with at least the former two being called by those names in-game. "Dark Lord" just means "Lord of Dark," or whoever has achieved mastery of the Dark Soul (for [[DarkIsEvil evil]] or [[DarkIsNotEvil good]]) and who is on par with the other Lords in strength, which you've [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority proven by personally defeating each and every one of them]] (possibly including your predecessor, if you count Manus as the Pygmy).

* Dark Souls is a [[CaptainObvious dark game]]. Darkness is overcoming everything, as the gods themselves fall and the flames fade. Now, what soul did the Undead inherit again? Darkness Overcomes becomes a whole lot more literal.

* If Knight Kirk [[spoiler:isn't actually a Darkwraith, but a Chaos Servant posing as one]], then that means [[spoiler:he doesn't have a working Red Eye Orb, and therefore he can't invade at will, instead having to make do with cracked orbs like those the player can find. Those orbs are limited per playthrough, so every time he invades someone (like you), he's taking the risk of it being his last one. After you beat him the third time in a row, he stops invading you. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero You made him waste his last orb,]] so he can't keep hunting for the humanity needed to keep his version of the Fair Lady alive.]]

* Some players might find it frustrating or unfair that there are no bonfires to be found in New Londo, especially before a fight as difficult as The Four Kings. However, this is actually an example of forward thinking in game design, because the whole place was flooded to keep the Abyss from leaking out into the rest of the world. Suddenly, it makes sense that any bonfires that ''did'' exist there have been long since extinguished.

* In the Undead Burg, you meet a female undead merchant, she sells poison-related items, Moss clumps that cure poison and toxins, arrows, and...Dung Pies..? In the Undead Burg and the Parish, the hollows never drop Dung Pies, nor is it found on the ground. [[ExcrementStatement What is she selling you, then?]]

* Frampt sending you to kill Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izilaith, the Four Kings, and Seath the Scaleless looks, at first glance, like a pretty straightforward task of recovering the Lord Souls. However, if you look a bit closer, one can note that taking out these entities isn't ''just'' a matter of recovering their Lord Souls. The Four Kings and the Abyss are a serious threat to Anor Londo. The Witch of Izilaith is [[spoiler:spawning endless hordes of powerful demons as the Bed of Chaos]]. Seath the Scaleless is completely batshit crazy and conducting horrible experiments right outside the main palace of the gods, and his agents are roaming around the country grabbing victims wherever they can. And while Gravelord Nito is relatively passive, necromancers by the bucketload are camping in the Catacombs and raising their own brands of undead. Remember that Frampt and Gwyndolin are trying to maintain their power in Lordran and the power of the gods in the rest of the world by Linking the Fire, and in order to reestablish that power and rebuild Lordran, they've got to get rid of all these beings who are causing trouble in their backyard. So along comes a badass Chosen Undead who proves his/her willingness to go this far on his/her quest -- [[UnwittingPawn an ideal weapon to dispose of these troublemakers....]]

* During the opening sequence, the four Bearers of Lord Souls are listed in accordance with how important they are in the story. First, there's Nito, who doesn't do a whole lot aside from sleep in a coffin and lead a covenant. Then, there's the Witch of Izalith, [[spoiler: who accidentally created the Bed of Chaos, which is where all the demons come from.]] Then there's Gwyn, who lead the battle against the dragons and started the Age of Fire [[spoiler: and eventually has to use himself as kindling to keep the First Flame going.]] Finally, there's the Pygmy, [[spoiler: and if the WMG page is anything to go by, he had everything planned from the start, and also found the titular Dark Soul, which all humans possess.]] Funny how the most important character in the game is mentioned only once.
* Quelaag [[spoiler: wasn't guarding the Bell of Awakening at all, it just happened to be there. She was defending her defenseless sister from the heavily armed Undead who just broke into their home.]]
** Another really brilliant theory is that [[spoiler: Since Quelaag's sister will stop mentioning the pain after feeding her enough humanity, it is likely Quelaag set up shop there specifically to kill and steal the humanity of all the undead that march through the area trying to ring the bell.]]

* Remember the gigantic, gigantic rat you fight in the Depths? If you look closely enough, there's an axe embedded [[EyeScream on its left eye]]. Now do you remember that one of the corpse on the upper floor (that you can access via the Butcher's chute) has a Spider Shield? Both the Axe and the Spider Shield are the Bandit's starting equipment, and in that area particularly are freshly killed human beings, one with a Humanity attached to it. Yes, there were bandits that attacked the damn thing and they didn't survive to tell the tale. Poor bastards...

** Crosses into FridgeHorror considering the way some items [[spoiler: and enemies]] in the game are implied to have been made.
* You can get the armor and weapons from a lot of characters by effectively leading them to the events that cause their death. For example, you invade Lautrec's world and kill him, while Beatrice dies sometime after she helps you kill the Four Kings. One odd exception though is Iron Knight Tarkus; whether or not you summoned him for the Iron Golem, you'll always find his armor under the painting in Anor Londo. But then, if you ''do'' summon him, you'll see that he's perfectly capable of handling the Golem all by himself! In Tarkus' world, he was able to get past the Golem without any outside help.

** And also two kinds of stairs leading up the main hall of Anor Londo. Seriously, the whole place is geared towards both, giants and humans.
* The only way to have a "No death/Souls Lost" run is to wear the ring of sacrifice, guess what you need to avoid dying with souls? By trading a piece of humanity. Guess the ritual involves giving up one's humanity to keep their soul.

** The only characters in the game you are unable to naturally communicate with are an Everlasting Dragon and a sickly God - both creatures who do not possess their own humanities.

** Looking at the difference in power between the two, one cannot help but wonder how Pinwheel was able to pull off stealing anything from Nito without getting completely destroyed, considering even the Chosen Undead can have difficulty with him. Then you take a closer look at Pinwheel's move set. He can teleport around the area somewhat quickly, create an infinite amount of copies of himself, and all his offensive abilities are fire based, which Nito is weak against! Meanwhile, Nito is large, slow, and cumbersome. Then look at the two boss arenas. While you fight Pinwheel in a cramped gigantic coffin, Nito's arena is much larger, with a pillar in the middle for cover. Finally, taking into consideration that Pinwheel's copies can attack as well, and he can churn out a large amount of them if given the chance, and suddenly it becomes clear how this guy was able to tango with Nito.
* You know why it seems like your character never turns hollowed no matter how many times they die, or how much souls and humanity they lost? Because you, the player, did not give up. All of the characters that turned hollowed in the game are those who, after receiving enough punishment from the unforgiving world of Dark Souls, slowly turning insane and thus, hollowed. If at any point the player gives up and stop playing the game as a whole, that is when their character start turning hollowed.
* One might be surprised that Gwyn is [[spoiler:very weak to fire, while he himself is wielding a burning greatsword and spent an incredible amount of time burning in the Kiln of the First Flame]]. Yet, when you stop to think about it, [[spoiler:by using fire spells and equipment you are actually making Gwyn burn out faster. The Age of Fire is ending, Gwyn has become Lord of Cinder, and you are accelerating the process by using Pyromancy/fire weapons]]. Just something to consider.
* Witch Beatrice's less-than-stellar performance as a Summon against the [[spoiler: Four Kings]] may have been deliberate on the developers' part: if she had so much difficulty beating them with your help, what the Izalith was she thinking taking them on by herself?! [[spoiler: [[SuicidalOverconfidence No wonder she was killed]].]]
** Not only that, but the two boss fights you can summon Beatrice for are the Four Kings and the Moonlight Butterfly. Notably, you ''can't'' summon her to fight Sif even though they're not far away from each other. If Beatrice never fought Sif in her own time, then [[ForWantOfANail she didn't get the Covenant of Artorias]] and would have died just from entering the abyss, much less fighting the Four Kings.

* Frampt sending you to kill Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izilaith, the Four Kings, and Seath the Scaleless looks, at first glance, like a pretty straightforward task of recovering the Lord Souls. However, if you look a bit closer, one can note that taking out these entities isn't ''just'' a matter of recovering their Lord Souls. The Four Kings and the Abyss are a serious threat to Anor Londo. The Witch of Izilaith is [[spoiler: spawning endless hordes of powerful demons as the Bed of Chaos]]. Seath the Scaleless is completely batshit crazy and conducting horrible experiments right outside the main palace of the gods, and his agents are roaming around the country grabbing victims wherever they can. And while Gravelord Nito is relatively passive, necromancers by the bucketload are camping in the Catacombs and raising their own brands of undead. Remember that Frampt and Gwyndolin are trying to maintain their power in Lordran and the power of the gods in the rest of the world by Linking the Fire, and in order to reestablish that power and rebuild Lordran, they've got to get rid of all these beings who are causing trouble in their backyard. So along comes a badass Chosen Undead who proves his/her willingness to go this far on his/her quest - [[UnwittingPawn an ideal weapon to dispose of these troublemakers....]]
* Gwyn is a bit of an AntiClimaxBoss. While he hits like a freight train and moves fast, its nothing you haven't dealt with by that point, and far more dangerous and unfair bosses have been pounding you the rest of the way through the game thus far. But this makes sense, as [[spoiler: the Lord Soul that gave him all his power has been bequeathed to Seath the Scaleless and the Four Kings]]. What's left is a crazed old man with a big sword and fire/lightning magic, but little else. If you'd faced Gwyn at his prime....

* If Lautrec is truly as self-serving as in-game items say, why is he available for summoning twice? Because he gets something out of it too. Both times you summon him, you can also summon Solaire. When a Knight of Sunlight is summoned and a boss killed, all participants (summoner and summoned alike) get a sunlight medal. Even when he seems to be helping you, he's really helping himself. The fact that he gives you a sunlight medal as thanks for freeing him suggest its a regular thing for him.

* You know how when you kill another character they disappear from the game, but if you die you just respawn at the bonfire. This can be chalked up to game mechanics, or it could be that they are sent into their worlds bonfire. Remember when Solaire says 'There's no telling how much longer your world and mine will remain in contact.'? So when you kill an NPC, you're just separating him/her from your world and sending them back to theirs. That's why they 'die' in the game.

** The Lost Izalith is located directly underneath Anor Londo--not surprising, considering the (strongly implied) alliance between the Goddess of Life and the God of Light and their respective families. Conversely, Nito (God of Death) and the Witch seem to have tried to place as much stone between themselves as possible.

* Gwyndolin fighting the [[PlayerCharacter Chosen Undead]] makes sense when you consider the actions that must be done to fight him. First way is to equip a certain ring and enter into the honorary tomb of Gwyn, this no doubt is a BerserkButton for him. The other way however, is to attack the illusion of Gwynevere. This is probably the way many players discovered Gwyndolin, so in a sense he fights you because you're possibly a threat to him. The act of attacking a god (illusion or not), is probably deemed as a big sin in the setting. In a way his reaction is justified.

* Both [[BlackMagicianGirl Witch Beatrice]] and [[SuperStrength Black Iron Tarkus]] are capable of soloing their respective bosses by beating them at their own game, Beatrice out-spams the Moonlight Butterfly with sorcery, and Tarkus overpowers the Iron Golem through sheer strength, but die when their [[CripplingOverspecialization highly specialized]] builds can't adapt to other situations. Beatrice is overwhelmed from multiple angles by the Four Kings, and Tarkus falls to an ignoble death thanks to his sluggishness. The Chosen Undead, on the other hand, is almost certainly more versatile, and willing to adapt, as well as change up their gear.
* The [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome popular giantdad build]] relies primarily on a zweihander, heavy armor, and an aggressive style that makes passive, defensive play difficult. Historically, the landsknect, normally armed with halberds and pikes, had designated "double pay men", who were [[ShapedLikeItself payed double for their position]]. Their job was to serve as a vanguard and charge into enemy formations of pikemen with, you guessed it, a zweihander and heavy armor, breaking their ranks. History repeats in ways we might not expect.

* In Duke's Archives you will encounter strange, squid-head monsters called Pisaca. In the area you fight them in, you will find two non-hostile ones cowering in the corner and if you get near them you can hear girls sobbing. If you kill them, you receive two healing miracles, and their descriptions state that they're special miracles granted only to the maidens of Gwynevere, Princess of the Sun. All of these creatures have a chance of dropping Humanity, and the Duke's Archives is used for some unspecified horrifying experiments...
** The above is made even worse by the fact that [[spoiler:Maiden Rhea can be found imprisoned in the Duke's Archives under specific circumstances.]]
* In a radio interview, the creators state that the [[spoiler: maggot ending is the happier ending for Solaire because if you defeat Gwyn with him he links the fire in his own world.]]
** Which still doesn't mean [[spoiler: [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential players won't intentionally get that certain ending.]]]] Still, both are subject to WildMassGuessing.

** A good way to acquire Twinkling Titanite is to harvest it from the Man-Eater Shells found in the Crystal Forest and Ash Lake. Man-Eater Shells, which are basically giant demonic oysters, are filled with human skulls. By the way, did you know they also drop Purging Stones? Does it mean that the creation of Purging Stones mean feeding people into these walking horrors?
** Arstor, the Earl of Carim was also responsible for the "Bite" rings, which grant resistance against a variety of debuffs. [[NothingIsScarier Though nothing specific is named]], the game goes out of it's way to tell you that the process for creating these rings is abominable.
** Or at least he saw there is no other way to prevent the effects of a curse and even beforehand one must give up their humanity to prevent the curses from inflicting them. Once one is officially cursed though, there is no other way to remove than to pass it on to the dead. Being Cursed is effectively becoming a hollow.

** And consider this: Artorias' left arm was the one that was mangled beyond use. In the description of the Majestic Greatsword (all but outright said to be Artorias' sword) in Dark Souls 2 says that all prominent swordsmen that wielded it were left handed. If used in your left hand one uses some of Artorias' attacks. So what does this all mean? Artorias wasn't fighting you with his sword hand and he was still that powerful regardless.

* In the Undead Burg, you meet a female undead merchant, she sells poison-related items, Moss clumps that cure poison and toxins, arrows, and...Dung Pies..? In the Undead Burg and the Parish, the hollows never drop Dung Pies, nor is it found on the ground. [[ExcrementStatement What is she selling you then..?]]
* It is said that the Undead can never die; well, not truly anyway. Unless you go hollow, then you can at last become subject to true death. Fall down seven times, stand up eight, but if eight isn't enough then you'll go hollow and something will turn up eventually to put you down for good right? Then it can finally, truly end, right? ...Right? [[spoiler: ...or perhaps not. Perhaps this is just a comforting illusion perpetuated for the sake of avoiding a harsher reality? Perhaps the mad undead you face aren't the final form of hollowing? Perhaps, after you've lost all your higher motivations as a sapient being you've still got a way to go in your hollowing, until even the more feral motives driving you to [[AttackAttackAttack attack whoever approaches]] have left you. Perhaps all those corpses you find scattered across Lordran aren't corpses at all, but undead who have gone so hollow they can't even motivate themselves to so much as twitch as you rifle through their pockets? Think about this next time you visit the [[AndIMustScream graveyard in the painted world]]. ]]
* How is Rhea, bearer of several powerful miracles, able to captured by the Channelers? When you first get to the chapel where she resides (after saving her from the Giant's Tomb), there's a Channeler lying in wait.....above and directly behind where she prays. Even if you take that one out, who's to say it doesn't have an unseen replacement? Or a time double, if the time loop theory is true?
** Except for the fact that she is [[spoiler: assassinated by Petrus if you don't purchase all over her miracles. Her inability to fight back against him could possibly be explained that she didn't see the danger until it was too late, and she was inexperienced in melee combat besides.]] The Channelers only abduct her if you buy every miracle she has... meaning [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you bought all of her defenses.]] It's your fault she had nothing left to defend herself with.
** Alternately, we know that miracles are dependent on a person's faith, and while [[GameplayAndStorySegregation you normally can't lose stats]] in ''Dark Souls'', Rhea's faith was pretty roughly tested (if not [[DespairEventHorizon broken]]) by what happened at the Giant's Tomb. She may not be ''able'' to cast those miracles anymore, which is why she's okay with selling them to you [[spoiler: and why she can't use them to defend herself from Petrus or the Channelers]].
* If Knight Kirk [[spoiler: isn't actually a Darkwraith, but a Chaos Servant posing as one,]] then that means [[spoiler: he doesn't have a working Red Eye Orb, and therefore he can't invade at will, instead having to make do with cracked orbs like those the player can find. Those orbs are limited per playthrough, so every time he invades someone (like you), he's taking the risk of it being his last one. After you beat him the third time in a row, he stops invading you. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero You made him waste his last orb,]] so he can't keep hunting for the humanity needed to keep his version of the Fair Lady alive.]]

** Not only that, but the two boss fights you can summon Beatrice for are the Four Kings and the Moonlight Butterfly. Notably, you ''can't'' summon her to fight Sif even though they're not far away from each other. If Beatrice never fought Sif in her own time, then she didn't get the Covenant of Artorias and wouldn't have survived even entering the abyss, much less the Four Kings.