History NightmareFuel / DarkSouls

* Just Blighttown in general, really. Just when you thought "The Depths", a disgusting sewer located beneath the Lower Undead Burg is already the bottom-most region of this dying, decaying world, you enter the room with the entrance to Blighttown. The whole screen turns a sickly green as you ponder the MASSIVE gaping hole, and then you descend an extremely long ladder to meet some of the creepiest enemies the game has to offer. Just imagining that a whole town, presumably filled with people exist down here is both horrifying and saddening.

** Blighttown also has strong triggers for Acrophobia (fear of heights)and Arachnophobia (fear of spiders), among many, many others.

* [[BonusBoss Black Dragon Kalameet]] is [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]]'s OneWingedAngel ''on steroids''. A very dark and edgy design overall, [[{{Cyclops}} creepy unique eye]], [[TheDreaded and he's feared even by the most badass knights of Anor Londo]]. If this isn't enough to convince you, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UXX-TL1bxc listen to his boss fight theme]].

* The fate of the Witch of Izalith and her daughters. She loses control of the copy of the First Flame she created and is transformed into the Bed of Chaos, her daughters turned into demons. Only one escapes unscathed; two are mutated into giant spider creatures, one is dead, another (the eldest) has gone mad/hollow and is protecting her mutated mother, and the final two make up additional parts of the Bed of Chaos.

* The fate of the Witch of Izalith and her daughters. She loses control of the copy of the First Flame she created and is transformed into the Bed of Chaos, her daughters turned into demons. Only two escape unharmed.

* Many of the [=NPCs=] are seriously creepy, and use a total creeper tone of voice. Yet they don't attack you... at first. You have to guess which ones are actually harmless, and which ones will kill you the moment you turn around. The ones that don't attack you immediately probably will when they go Hollow after you exhaust their dialogue choices.
** When Reah of Thorolund first arrives at Firelink Shrine, the Crestfallen Warrior describes her with a tone that implies that he's planning to do something to her. He eventually goes Hollow and attacks you in New Londo Ruins. And he's not even the bad guy of the bunch; It's ''Petrus'' who will kill Reah later on if you don't take him out first.
** There's also the obsessive tone that Laurentius uses when he demands that you tell him where you found Chaos pyromancy and/or large pyromancy flame. If you do tell him where you found it, he will go Hollow and attack you the next time you enter Lower Blighttown. It's best not to tell him anything.
* After ringing one of the Bells of Awakening, you can hear ''something'' snoring near the pool of the Firelink Shrine, but you can't see what it is. It's Kingseeker Frampt, who awakens once you ring the second one. Of course, a Primordial Serpent like himself is ugly and horrifying, and he suddenly appears out of nowhere...

* The [[http://darksouls.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mimic.png Mimic]], a ChestMonster with finger bones for teeth and making menacing giggles at every movement. You end up trying to open it, the Mimic responds by ''[[EatenAlive eating you alive]]''. The only way to uncover it is to attack it (or check which way the chain on the side is positioned as regular chests have them coiled), and even then, you still have to stay out of melee range to avoid its instant kill attack, which is, of course, eating you alive.

** Have a fear of [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant bugs?]] Then you're gonna ''love'' lower Blighttown, especially the massive Cragspiders who's bodies have an annoying habit of getting tangled up on your character model.

* Gravelord Nito. He's literally a mountain of corpses with a magical cloak and a sword (also made of corpses) the length of a car. In one of his attacks, he stabs his sword into the ground, which comes up under you unless you dodge fast- and that's not the scary bit, although it is lovely ParanoiaFuel on its own. When he does this attack, you hear a disembodied woman's voice ''shriek in agony.'' It's quite... disconcerting.
* After you drain New Londo and go down the lift, you'll be confronted with a ''vast'' pile of bodies; the final resting place of all the poor souls the flood claimed in order to seal off the Darkwraiths. Even more disturbingly, the Darkwraiths are still alive, you're now in their territory, and they're coming for you.

* Knight Artorias, or rather what's left of him when you meet him in the DownloadableContent. Once the player reaches him, the once proud knight has completely lost his sanity due to the corruption of the Abyss and howls at you like a raving beast trying to kill you. It's very disconcerting to see him act like that, after all the hype behind his lore.
* The Abyss is a likely contender for the scariest EldritchLocation in the game. In fact, the very first time you enter it becomes a textbook example of NothingIsScarier: as soon as you land in the horizonless Abyss, there's seemingly nothing happening at all at first. A couple seconds later, one of the Four Kings makes its appearance by emerging from the darkness, triggering what is unequivocally the most nerve-wrecking fight in the base game, from the spectral appearance of the boss to the ''absolutely [[EtherealChoir oppressive chorus]]'', pressing you to hurry up before you're hopelessly overwhelmed by the respawning kings.
** Want to know what's in the Abyss once the boss is dead? [[NothingIsScarier Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.]] ''Endless nothing spreading out in all directions forever.'' There's no light, no landscape, just absolute blackness. If a bonfire didn't spontaneously appear after the fight, there would be no way out. And the scariest part is, if Kaathe is correct, this nothingness is the fundamental nature of humankind. The Abyss is a reflection of, and created from, ''us''.
* Pictured above is Manus, the Father of the Abyss and the FinalBoss [=/=] BigBad of the DownloadableContent. He is a terrifying EldritchAbomination that curbstomped and corrupted [[FallenHero Artorias]], and spread the darkness over the land of Oolacile, turning its townsfolk into little more than mindless, grotesquely deformed monsters. The way he fights is downright brutal, capable of making even veteran players shudder in fear with his crazy, unpredictable moves. As if it wasn't enough, he's heavily implied to be what would happen should one's humanity go on an uncontrollable frenzy. The horror doesn't end here, as his legacy carries on over ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', where the tiniest fragment of his soul dwells within Queen Nashandra, the game's true BigBad.

** Your first encounter with him, while not a cutscene, is played for all the looming terror it implies. As you cross a bridge, Kalameet lands on it, coldly stares at you for several seconds, then flies off, leaving a powerful impression.

* Pinwheel. While many players berate him for being the easiest boss in the game, it's probably also the eeriest part of the game. After making it through the Catacombs, you enter a room full of bones and various weapons scattered on the floor, a number skeletons hanging from manacles, and battered, discarded books lying everywhere, that's only lit by a bunch of candles. You then see an odd robed figure standing over a desk with two lanterns hanging from its back operating on a skeleton. It then turns around, appears to have three masks, which then look at each other, and seem to agree that you need to die.

* [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Kiln of the First Flame]]. After countless grueling battles against the bearers of the Lord Souls, you harvest all four of them and satiate the Lordvessel, opening the door to Gwyn's true resting place. As you descend the staircase floating in a [[WhiteVoidRoom white void]], ghostly apparitions of Black Knights walk past you, making you cringe as to what happened down there. Then, after making out of the white void, you are treated to... [[BleakLevel a dark and empty]] [[ShiftingSandLand desert of ash and cinder]] around a giant ruin. Said ruin being surrounded by stone pillars which look half melted and half glassed, quickly hinting at the events that must have happend there. Aside from a few [[EliteMooks Black Knights]] awaiting potential intruders in the wasteland, there is absolutely nothing else in the desert, emphasizing the ever-increasing despair of the scenery. And finally, after a long, tiresome march towards the very center of the furnace, you meet [[FinalBoss Gwyn]], the Lord of Cinder himself; reduced to a husk of his former glory, attacking you on sight with little more reasoning than a Hollow's.

* You're walking along a mountain passage in the Valley of the Drakes and you find a presumably dead dragon hanging from a cliff side, and close to its body is some loot. Being the curious person you are, you get close to start pillaging the corpse, then as soon as you pocket the items, the dragon rises from the ground and starts trying to kill you. Congrats, you just found an undead dragon. [[BringMyBrownPants Bring my brown leggings]].

* Once you beat Pinwheel, you enter The Tomb of The Giants. And it's dark. So dark infact that you're almost required to either wear a specific helmet, or replace your trusty shield with a crappy little lantern. Because of this, the player has about three ways to run into the most terrifying enemy in the tomb: [[DemonicSpiders giant, dog like skeletons]]. These skeletons, alongside being horrifying, are super fast, hit like a truck, and are nigh impossible to kill.
* [[http://darksouls.wikidot.com/vagrant Vagrants]]. What the hell are Vagrants? Not surprised you don't know, because they're ''incredibly'' rare -- which is why they will ALWAYS scare the piss out of you when you meet one of the evil ones. Basically, whenever someone loses a large amount of humanity by dying and failing to retrieve it, they create an Evil Vagrant in the world of someone else online. They're horribly little crawly things with bloated sacks on their backs that drop items or humanity when you kill them. The "good" ones (which spawn when a player drops an item and doesn't pick it up again) are harmless and will run away, but the evil ones are aggressive, with crab claws and the ability to shoot a hail of spines at you that can do ''incredible'' damage, often enough for a OneHitKill. Even people who think they know everything about the game (and you can easily have an entire playthrough without ''ever'' seeing one) will find themselves shouting "What the HELL is THAT?!" the first time one comes crawling at them.[[note]]Incidentally, if you've read this entry, you're less likely to panic if it ever happens to you. You're welcome.[[/note]]

* Many of the [=NPCs=] are seriously creepy, and use a total creeper tone of voice. Yet they don't attack you... at first. You have to guess which ones are actually harmless, and which ones will kill you the moment you turn around.
** [[spoiler:The ones that don't attack you immediately probably will when they go Hollow after you exhaust their dialogue choices.]]
** For example, when Reah of Thorolund first arrives at Firelink Shrine, the Crestfallen Warrior describes her with a tone that implies that he's planning to do something to her.
*** [[spoiler:He eventually goes Hollow and attacks you in New Londo Ruins.]] And he's not even the bad guy of the bunch; [[spoiler: Petrus will kill Reah later on if you don't take him out before he does so.]]
** There's also the tone that Laurentius uses when he demands that you tell him where you found chaos pyromancy and/or large pyromancy flame.
*** If you do tell him where you found it, [[spoiler:he will go Hollow and attack you the next time you enter Lower Blighttown.]] It's best not to tell him anything.
* At the pool of the Firelink Shrine, at a specific point in the game, you can hear ''something'' snoring. But you can't see what it is. And it is very big and loud.
** This occurs after ringing one of the Bells of Awakening. It's [[spoiler:Kingseeker Frampt, who is awakened once you ring the second one]]. Of course, he himself is ugly and horrifying and suddenly appears out of nowhere...
* The [[BodyHorror Gaping Dragon]] comes to mind, with its [[BellyMouth ribcage-turned-mouth]].
* The [[http://darksouls.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mimic.png Mimic]], a ChestMonster. You end up trying to open it, the Mimic responds by ''[[ImAHumanitarian eating you alive.]]'' The only way to uncover it is to attack it (or check which way the chain on the side is positioned as regular chests have them coiled), and even then, you still have to stay out of melee range to avoid its instant kill attack, which is (of course) eating you alive.
** Oh, and those teeth? '''Finger bones.'''
** The only sound it makes once you cause it to spring to life and attack you, outside of its death cry, is an incredibly creepy and menacing giggle.

* The fate of the Witch of Izalith and her daughters. [[spoiler:She loses control of the copy of the First Flame she created and is transformed into the Bed of Chaos, her daughters turned into demons. Only two escape unharmed.]]
* Gravelord Nito, in spades. He's literally a mountain of corpses with a magical cloak and a sword (also made of corpses) the length of a car. In one of his attacks, he stabs his sword into the ground, which comes up under you unless you dodge fast- and that's not the scary bit, although it is lovely ParanoiaFuel on its own. When he does this attack, you hear a disembodied woman's voice ''shriek in agony.'' It's quite... disconcerting.
* After you drain New Londo, and go down the lift, you'll be confronted with a ''vast'' pile of bodies, final resting place of all those who the flood claimed in order to seal off the Darkwraiths. Even more disturbingly, though, the Darkwraiths are still alive, and now you're in their territory, they're coming for you.
* Don't look too closely at the walls in the Catacombs if you have a fear of insects.
* A meta example: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mCb8nZxg2M The True Dark Souls Starts Here.]]

** Also in Oolacile Township, you come to a cryptic message that says "Let there be light..." while hearing a very loud knocking against the wall. At that point [[ParanoiaFuel you have to think about whether or not you even want to try seeing what it means]]. [[spoiler:Fortunately for you, it is an actual hint to what you must do to obtain the Silver Pendant, your one and only hope against the dreaded [[CastingAShadow Abyss sorceries]].]]

** Two of the pisacas are not hostile; they cower in fear from the player and run away if attacked. [[AndIMustScream If you listen closely you can hear them crying.]] [[spoiler:This, as well as their miracle item drops implies that they are holy maidens who have recently been turned in to pisacas via Seath's "experiments".]]
* Knight Artorias, [[spoiler:or rather what's left of him when you meet him in the DownloadableContent]]. Once the player reaches him, [[spoiler:the once proud knight has completely lost his sanity due to the corruption of the Abyss and howls at you like a raving beast trying to kill you]]. It's very disconcerting to see him act like that, after all the hype behind his lore.
* The Abyss is a likely contender for the scariest EldritchLocation in the game. In fact, the very first time you enter it becomes a textbook example of NothingIsScarier: as soon as you land in the horizonless Abyss, there's seemingly nothing happening at all at first. [[spoiler:A couple seconds later, one of the Four Kings makes its appearance by emerging from the darkness, triggering what is unequivocally the most nerve-wrecking fight in the base game, from the spectral appearance of the boss to the ''absolutely [[EtherealChoir oppressive chorus]]'', pressing you to hurry up before you're hopelessly overwhelmed by the respawning kings.]]
** Want to know what's in the Abyss once the boss is dead? [[NothingIsScarier Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.]] ''Endless nothing spreading out in all directions forever.'' There's no light, no landscape, just absolute blackness. If a bonfire didn't spontaneously appear after the fight, there would be no way out. [[spoiler:And the scariest part is, if Kaathe is correct, this nothingness is the fundamental nature of humankind. The Abyss is a reflection of, and created from, ''us''.]]
* Pictured above is Manus, [[spoiler:the Father of the Abyss and the FinalBoss [=/=] BigBad of the DownloadableContent]]. He is a terrifying EldritchAbomination that [[spoiler:curbstomped and corrupted [[FallenHero Artorias]], and spread the darkness over the land of Oolacile, turning its townsfolk into little more than mindless, grotesquely deformed monsters]]. The way he fights is [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown downright brutal]], capable of making even veteran players shudder in fear with his crazy, unpredictable moves. As if it wasn't enough, he's heavily implied to be [[spoiler:what has become of the Furtive Pygmy, one of the original Lords and bearer of the [[TitleDrop Dark Soul]]. This alone carries a lot of FridgeHorror as to what would happen should one's humanity go on an uncontrollable frenzy.]] The horror doesn't end here, as his legacy carries on over ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', [[spoiler:where the tiniest fragment of his soul dwells within Queen Nashandra, the game's true BigBad]].

** The most terrifying thing about him is your first encounter with him. As you cross a bridge, Kalameet lands on it. It's not that this MASSIVE BLACK DRAGON just showed up out of nowhere that's terrifying, oh no. It's the fact that before he flies off, [[KillingIntent he looks directly at the player.]]
* The Painted World of Ariamis is, in its entirety, one gigantic UncannyValley. The entire purpose of the place is to lock away things that had no place in the world or were too dangerous, even towards Gods. Virtually every single enemy in the the Painted World is a unique brand of DemonicSpider, and those that aren't are just reused but equally hellish [[DemonicSpider Demonic Spiders]]. Some of the more dangerous ones can't even be killed without poisoning yourself, while some others are hidden in the CreepyBasement. A surprising amount of loot that, from a story standpoint, only make your journey harder can be found there. Besides all of this, the whole world just gives a sense of overpowering wrongness, like you truly shouldn't be there. The area boss in particular, while actually being one of the more tragic and kinder beings in the game, has an unsettling DissonantSerenity about her.
* [[HardLevelsEasyBosses Pinwheel]]. While many players berate him for being the easiest boss in the game, it's probably also the eeriest part of the game. After making it through the Catacombs, you enter a room full of bones and various weapons scattered on the floor, a number skeletons hanging from manacles, and battered, discarded books lying everywhere, that's only lit by a bunch of candles. You then see an odd robed figure standing over a desk with two lanterns hanging from its back operating on a skeleton. It then turns around, appears to have three masks, which then look at each other, and seem to agree that you need to die. [[https://youtu.be/Wvood4TN390?t=10s The full scene]] can be seen here.
** Then there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sur4qN_4Oi8 its boss music]], which starts with an eerily dissonant melody, paired with an onslaught of whispers. Fans have speculated that the whispers are a man saying "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," a woman saying "It's all your fault," and a child saying "Help me."

* [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Kiln of the First Flame]]. After countless grueling battles against the bearers of the Lord Souls, you harvest all four of them and satiate the Lordvessel, opening the door to [[spoiler:Gwyn's true resting place]]. As you descend the staircase floating in a [[WhiteVoidRoom white void]], [[spoiler:''ghostly apparitions of Black Knights walk past you'']], making you cringe as to what happened down there. Then, after making out of the white void, you are treated to... [[spoiler:[[BleakLevel a dark and empty]] [[ShiftingSandLand desert of ash and cinder]] around a giant ruin. Said ruin being surrounded by stone pillars which look half melted and half glassed, quickly hinting at the events that must have happend there. Aside from a few [[EliteMooks Black Knights]] awaiting potential intruders in the wasteland, there is absolutely nothing else in the desert, emphasizing the ever-increasing despair of the scenery. And finally, after a long, tiresome march towards the very center of the furnace, you meet [[FinalBoss Gwyn]], [[TragicMonster the]] [[AndIMustScream Lord]] [[EmptyShell of]] [[FallenHero Cinder]] [[LightIsNotGood himself]].]]
** Correction, you harvest '''three''' Lord Souls and not four. [[spoiler:Indeed, you never get the Dark Soul. You never get four souls, it's just that Gwyn's soul has been split between Seath the Scaleless and Anor Londo's Four Kings, but it's still one Lord Soul.]]

* Imagine: You're walking along a mountain passage in the [[spoiler:Valley of the Drakes]] and you find a presumably dead dragon hanging from a cliff side, and close to it's body is some loot. Being the curious person you are, you get close to start pillaging the corpse, then as soon as you pocket the items, the dragon rises from the ground and starts trying to kill you. Congrats, you just found an undead dragon. [[BringMyBrownPants Bring my brown leggings]].

** A player may decide to brave the dungeon without a light source. Imagine the horror of being ambushed by on of these things in a pitch black cavern?
** A player can easily pull out the lantern, take in their surroundings, and then switch to their shield as they move forward a bit. Imagine raising your lantern and seeing this thing inches away from your face.
** A player with the helmet on can always see these things. Doesn't help when they always stare at the paths you approach from, only to go crazy once you step too close.

** Correction, you harvest '''three''' Lord Souls and '''not four'''. Indeed, you never get the Dark Soul. You never get four souls, it's just that '''Gwyn's soul has been split''' between Seath the Scaleless and Anor Londo's Four Kings, but it's still one Lord Soul.

* The [[http://darksouls.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mimic.png Mimic]], a ChestMonster. You end up trying to open it, the Mimic responds by ''[[ImAHumanitarian eating you alive.]]'' The only way to uncover it is to attack it, and even then, you still have to stay out of melee range to avoid its instant kill attack, which is (of course) eating you alive.

* [[http://darksouls.wikidot.com/vagrant Vagrants.]] What the hell are Vagrants? Not surprised you don't know, because they're ''incredibly'' rare- which is why they will ALWAYS scare the piss out of you when you meet one of the evil ones. Basically, whenever someone loses a large amount of humanity by dying and failing to retrieve it, they create an Evil Vagrant in the world of someone else online. They're horribly little crawly things with bloated sacks on their backs that drop items or humanity when you kill them. The "good" ones (which spawn when a player drops an item and doesn't pick it up again) are harmless and will run away, but the evil ones are aggressive, with crab claws and the ability to shoot a hail of spines at you that can do ''incredible'' damage, often enough for a OneHitKill. Even people who think they know everything about the game (and you can easily have an entire playthrough without ''ever'' seeing one) will find themselves shouting "What the HELL is THAT?!" the first time one comes crawling at them.[[note]]Incidentally, if you've read this entry, you're less likely to panic if it ever happens to you. You're welcome.[[/note]]

* [[http://darksouls.wikia.com/wiki/Drift_Item Vagrants.]] What the hell are Vagrants? Not surprised you don't know, because they're ''incredibly'' rare- which is why they will ALWAYS scare the piss out of you when you meet one of the evil ones. Basically, whenever someone loses a large amount of humanity by dying and failing to retrieve it, they create an Evil Vagrant in the world of someone else online. They're horribly little crawly things with bloated sacks on their backs that drop items or humanity when you kill them. The "good" ones (which spawn when a player drops an item and doesn't pick it up again) are harmless and will run away, but the evil ones are aggressive, with crab claws and the ability to shoot a hail of spines at you that can do ''incredible'' damage, often enough for a OneHitKill. Even people who think they know everything about the game (and you can easily have an entire playthrough without ''ever'' seeing one) will find themselves shouting "What the HELL is THAT?!" the first time one comes crawling at them.[[note]]Incidentally, if you've read this entry, you're less likely to panic if it ever happens to you. You're welcome.[[/note]]

* The fate of the Witch of Izalith and her daughters. [[spoiler:She loses control of the copy of the First Flame she created and is transformed into the Bed of Chaos, her daughters turned into demons. Only one escapes.]]

* [[BonusBoss Black Dragon Kalameet]] is literally [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]]'s OneWingedAngel ''on steroids''. A very dark and edgy design overall, [[{{Cyclops}} creepy unique eye]], [[TheDreaded and he's feared even by the most badass knights of Anor Londo]]. If this isn't enough to convince you, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UXX-TL1bxc listen to his boss fight theme]].

** For example, when Rhea of Thorolund first arrives at Firelink Shrine, the Crestfallen Warrior describes her with a tone that implies that he's planning to do something to her.
*** [[spoiler:He eventually goes Hollow and attacks you in New Londo Ruins.]] And he's not even the bad guy of the bunch; [[spoiler: Petrus will kill Rhea later on if you don't take him out before he does so.]]

* [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Kiln of the First Flame]]. After countless grueling battles against the bearers of the Lord Souls, you harvest all four of them and satiate the Lordvessel, opening the door to [[spoiler:Gwyn's true resting place]]. As you descend the staircase floating in a [[WhiteVoidRoom white void]], [[spoiler:''ghostly apparitions of Black Knights walk past you'']], making you cringe as to what happened down there. Then, after making out of the white void, you are treated to... [[spoiler:[[BleakLevel a dark and empty]] [[ShiftingSandLand desert of ash and cinder]]. Aside from a few [[EliteMooks Black Knights]] awaiting potential intruders in the wasteland, there is absolutely nothing else in the desert, emphasizing the ever-increasing despair of the scenery. And finally, after a long, tiresome march towards the very center of the furnace, you meet [[FinalBoss Gwyn]], [[TragicMonster the]] [[AndIMustScream Lord]] [[EmptyShell of]] [[FallenHero Cinder]] [[LightIsNotGood himself]].]]

* Imagine: You're walking along a mountain passage in the [[spoiler:Valley of the Drakes]] and you find a presumably dead dragon hanging from a cliff side, and close to it's body is some loot. Being the curious person you are, you get close to start pillaging the corpse, then as soon as you pocket the items, the dragon rises from the ground and starts trying to kill you. Congrats, you just found an undead dragon. BringMyBrownPants indeed.