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Nameless he may be, but a King he remains!
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
  • The Nameless King is one of the most visually stunning battles in the games, in addition to being an awesome fight in its own right. There's a good reason for this: You're fighting the literal God Of War of the Souls series. Not a Hollowed god, not a god of death who has been drained of power for untold ages, and not a cowardly god who spends the entire battle fleeing from you. This is a full-on battle against a real, living god, one at the height of his power, and who is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with you. With him being the last of the true gods, this battle is The Last Dance for the deities of Dark Souls as a whole, and as he wrecks your face for perhaps the hundredth time, you'll begin to understand why guys like him reigned undisputed until the fire began to die.
    • This game is also the first time we get to see the Sunlight Altar unbroken: It's a statue of the Nameless King, and can be seen in the Ancient Wyvern's boss chamber.
  • The Final Boss fight is probably the single best boss battle in the history of the series, for no other reason than the fact that you are basically fighting yourself! More specifically, the Soul of Cinder combines the power of every Chosen Undead, Bearer of the Curse and countless other entities that ever Linked the Fire, and as such it has access to, in no particular order; a straight sword, a greatsword, a curved greatsword, a staff, sorceries, miracles, pyromancies, and the backflip-dodge of the Dark Wood Grain Ring. The only thing that makes this fight even better is when you hit Phase 2, and you hear the three lonesome piano notes of Gwyn's theme as the Soul takes on the move set of the first Lord of Cinder himself. It feels both like a do-over of Gwyn's fight from the first game and an enhancement; no cheesing out parry attempts here folks, you're gonna have to do this legit! Hope you know your way around the combat by this point or brought a couple phantoms in to help you. Suffice to say that FROM pulled out all the stops in making the Final Boss of the Souls series worth all the effort to get to it.
  • Farron's Undead Legion of the Abyss Watchers are concentrated badasses given form, both in the lore and in the fight against them. They're basically a legion of Undead who took up guarding the world against the horrors of the Abyss, and when the time came for them to Link the Fire they went down there together to burn as one. It also helps that they are both a Call-Back to and were founded by the fan favorite character Artorias, and it really shows in the fight against them; these bastards are Lightning Bruisers to the core, able to cross yards of their arena in the blink of an eye and incorporating a lot of scrambling movements and flips into their devastating moveset. It gets even better when you hit Phase 2 of their fight, as the combined power of all the fallen Watchers flows into their leader, activating their powers as a Lord of Cinder. You'll be in for the fight of your life as they practically Flash Step around you and strike with their flaming greatswords with speed and ferocity that can give Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower a run for her money.
    • Also, the fact they salute you before rushing at you.
  • Deciding the ultimate fate of the Dark Souls universe. You can Link the Fire, and enjoy the calm before the next cycle begins without burning in agony (since you are technically NOT a Lord of Cinder). Fulfill Kaathe's wish and usher in an Age of Dark with yourself as its ruler, to the rejoicing of all who wanted to see the old gods finally get their comeuppance. Murder the Fire Keeper like a junkie for the pitiful last gasps of the First Flame, proving human nature never changes. Or survive the end of the world with the Firekeeper at your side, and wait for a better one to be born. Which is the BEST ending? Start writing your essays.
  • Coming upon the city of Irithyll of the Boreal Valley for the first time. Emerging from the dark and depressing (and at times hopeless) Catacombs of Carthus to see this is perhaps one of the most breathtaking vistas - not to mention moments - in the game. No photo can do it justice; find it yourself.
  • Potentially one interpretation for a rather understated character that lets the entire game happen in the first place: Ludleth! If what's gathered is true, the Fire was doomed to fade because a Stable Time Loop resulted in the Ashen One driving off the only champion left to potentially bring together the Lords of Cinder. So Ludleth broke time itself to create a pocket dimension that the game's cycle takes place within, become a Lord of Cinder himself, and ultimately give the Ashen One the opportunity to decide the fate of the world. Even if everything doesn't go as planned, it's probably one of the biggest Determinator moments in the entire franchise.
    • The Link the Fire ending itself is a pure moment of awesomeness in its self. Unlike all the other games, it cannot be argued that the player is being misled this time. The player is completely aware of what will happen to them once they link the fire. They've seen what it does to the other Lords, and still the Ashen One is consciously choosing to light themselves on fire, and burn in eternal agony forever. To honor the sacrifice of all the Lords before him/her, down to the Lord of Sunlight himself. While it's futility could be argued, it's nonetheless the ultimate sacrifice.
  • The Gwyn / Soul of Cinder do-over isn't the only call-back boss fight that's been greatly improved. After the widely disparaged fight-against-a-tree that was the Bed of Chaos in the first Dark Souls, the fight against the Curse-Rotted Greatwood is an epic battle against a monstrous, towering foe.
  • It took three games, countless deaths, battles, a hundred graveyards worth of skeletons of every size, configuration, and armament slain. But now at last, a glorious moment of jolly cooperation between the Ashen One and the skeletons of Carthus! Joining forces to do battle with a Taurus demon! Brothers in bones, ashes to sublime bone dust! Truly, the end times are upon us!
    • There's one other inhabitant in that room who's been with us the whole way as well; the Mimic Chest. Wake it up, make the Demon hurt it, and watch as the living man-eating box proceeds to kick the Demon to death. Mimics exist to punish our greed, and now they can punt demons into their graves too!
  • If you send Greirat to Irithyll, he'll die unless one of two things have happened: Either Siegward is there to save him... or, you tell Patches that you sent Greirat there. Patches, the cowardly, backstabbing bastard who has tried to screw over every Soulsborne protagonist in the series, will descend into one of the game's most difficult and dangerous areas and rescue Greirat by himself. For the first time in the series, Patches has a friend that he actually cares about more than himself.
    • On the topic of Patches, the fact he never went Hollow in all his time in the Souls games should get him some serious credit. Men and women, gods and goddesses, the dragons and the Darkness itself went insane or dead, one by one. Patches is a coward and a looter, but he managed what the best and brightest didn't. True, Patches had a bit of a spider problem in Bloodborne, but even then, he still kept himself together. Give this bastard a hand, he deserves it.
      • The Ringed City DLC adds in one last bit of polish; even at the end of time itself the only problem and threat Patches ever succumbed to was becoming amnesiac for a time and forgetting his obsession and purpose. The player gets a questline to remind him of who he truly is, even if they don't realize it's him at first due to the fact that he's wearing a full suit of armour and going by the name "Lapp". He dedicated his body and mind to exploiting the curiosity and greed of others, and through that, he has lived for cycles upon cycles without going Hollow, fleecing people and orchestrating their demise to strip their bodies for things to sell. One can assume that the only reason he even started turning Hollow to begin with is because he simply ran out of people to kick into pits since they all went Hollow before he did. The man is an almost commendable, if not admirable, sort of bastard.
      • From Patches' Ashes: Patches never lost heart, and never looked back. He marched in one direction, and that direction was dead ahead. Did you see him passing by?
  • It's semi-hidden, but Smough, Fat Bastard extraordinaire, and cannibal executioner, not only eventually DID achieve knighthood he so yearned to earn, but was also the last knight who remained at his post to defend Anor Londo from the threat of invasion. He still failed, but this last stand cements his status as pure Badass.
    • In the same line of events, what happened to badass extraordinaire Ornstein? Apparently, he left his post just before Dark Souls 3, and went out to find the Nameless King, either to join him, or... The other option. Either way, you can now no longer feel bad for killing him. How that could happen is unknown, either a case of space is warped and time is bendable or the Ornstein you fought was an illusion. If so, imagine how badass the original was.
  • The battle with the Ancient Wyvern. The souls series is no stranger to dragons as bosses, but when you enter its arena, it descends upon you from the air, and unlike the dragons of the past is all but invulnerable to standard attacks, with even the strongest weapons charged attacks doing measly amounts of damage. And it doesn't just stay on the ground: It will rise into the air and rain fiery death down upon you. How do you defeat such an awe-inspiring beast? Run through a gauntlet of snake men, scale the remains of the tower, and then drop down on its head, impaling its skull Legolas style.
    • Applies to the other games as well, but as dark and cynical as Dark Souls is, it isn't above throwing you a bone and letting you fulfill every kids' dream: slaying a motherfucking dragon.
  • The conclusion of Siegward's questline - After bailing him out of multiple predicaments and fighting alongside him once against a demon, when you enter the arena of Yhorm the Giant, a cutscene plays, and Siegward comes in alongside you, Storm Ruler in hand, revealing himself to be an old friend of Yhorm's who promised to put the Lord of Cinder down when the giant went mad. Provided that you grab the Storm Ruler on the other side of the room and you're not being stupid about using it, you and Siegward proceed to destroy Yhorm utterly (basically, by timing your attacks so you two can stunlock him, as fighting Yhorm with Siegward beside you becomes almost trivial provided that Siegward isn't killed in the process). You celebrate your victory together with a toast. Sadly, he expires from his wounds, leaving behind his armor, but his last moments were far more glorious than that of his predecessor, who went Hollow and had to be put down.
  • Orbeck of Vinheim is also worth a mention; He started out as an assassin serving the Dragon School in the desperate hope of learning sorceries, but he didn't get a chance to learn any of them. By the time you meet him, he has spend an untold amount of time holed up in his makeshift study but has still only managed to learn a few very basic spells. You are his only hope of finding sorcery scrolls and becoming a real sorcerer. If you managed to find all the scrolls for him and buy out his entire stock of spells, his wish is finally granted and he becomes a full-fledged sorcerer. Not only that, but he can now be summoned for the Twin Princes boss fight, using his newly acquired sorcery knowledge to help you demolish a Lord of Cinder!
  • Speaking of the Twin Princes: Lothric is so sickly he's never left his bed, and Lorian is mute and lame after taking on some of Lothric's curse. This doesn't stop them from being a difficult boss fight, as Lothric is entirely capable of teleporting his brother right next to you, and in phase 2 will join the fight himself, resurrecting his brother and using sorceries of his own.
  • The Ashes of Ariandel DLC offers a fight that is as challenging as it is spectacular: Sister Friede. She starts the fight as a bonafide Lightning Bruiser, with rapid scythe combos on par with the likes of Gehrman. She can dash across the room in seconds to hook you with her scythe, create exploding ice crystals on the ground, and many other tricks that would be enough to qualify her for this page by themselves. But once you take her down, Father Ariandel promptly freaks out and comes after you himself... but not before reviving Friede. Round two of the fight is a chaotic endurance match as you have to contend with not only Friede's vicious moveset, but Ariandel's imposing presence as well. Once you finally slay them both, the music goes silent, and you expect "Heir of Fire Destroyed" to pop up any moment. It doesn't. Instead, Ariandel gives an ominous speech as Friede revives again as Blackflame Friede, drawing a second magical scythe to dice you with and amping up her already-intense attacks. This is a boss that makes you work for your victory. It is also set to one of the game's best themes.
  • If you were underwhelmed by the end of the Demons in the base game, The Ringed City rectifies that with the epic battle agains The Demon Prince. Starting as a tense Dual Boss against the Demon in Pain and Demon in Below, two near identical demons who trade off levels of danger and fight with great synergy. After a tough fight, the second to fall alights and rises as The Demon Prince, who fights as either a smaller version of Midir himself, or summons orbs of chaos and attacks you like something out of a Bullet Hell shooter. In the end, it’s an incredibly difficult, but extremely awesome and rewarding battle. Bonus points if you summon Gael and Lapp to even the odds and turn it into an all out battle.
  • The final boss of The Ringed City is not only one of the most climactic bosses in the entire game, but is also a fantastic send-off to the series. Slave Knight Gael, that hardy old man who helped you take down Ariandel and Friede, has been feasting on the blood of the Pygmy Lords in order to take on the Dark Soul, turning him into a hulking Lightning Bruiser that combines Artorias' speed and skill with Manus' brutish strength. Once his health is at a third down, he finally stands up and becomes empowered by the consumed blood as a storm passes over the ashen desert. Phases 2 and 3 consist of the Slave Knight utilizing his sword skill, his auto-crossbow, and his new powers in tandem to really bring a world of hurt to the player. It's at this point that it becomes clear that you're no longer fighting Gael. You're facing off against the Dark Soul itself. The mid-boss cutscene counts, too. Gael falls to his knees in pain, as blood drips from his face. He then softly asks if this is blood, as it nearly fades to black... and then he continues with "The blood of the dark soul...?" Cue Sword Plant, as Gael slowly rises up to his feet, looks at his blade, and readies it, flames coming out of his very being as his battle theme plays in the background. The whole thing is just so utterly powerful, it gets you ready to dive right back into the battle.
    • One attack has Gael leap into the air and strafe you with his crossbow midair while flipping over your head, following it up with a greatsword slam. And judging from the description of his sword, it's not the doing of the Dark Soul, Gael was capable of such acrobatics by himself.
  • Although certainly not as climatic as your battle with Gael, Shira, Spear of the Church, has managed to hold on to her sanity for all these years, until the very end of the world, and she's here to make sure you know that this is all. Your. Fault. Seems the Age of Fire has one last champion.
  • The Superboss of The Ringed City is impressive too; a Dark-corrupted dragon every bit the match of Sinh and Kalameet. Midir is a true archdragon, one who has survived era upon era slaying the creatures of the Dark in service to the Gods. And he most definitely lives up to that reputation.
    • Consistently land hits on Midir's head during the battle, and by the last 20% of so of his health bar, you'll actually be able to stun him and follow up with a riposte on the gigantic archdragon. It's both an awesome spectacle, and a welcome respite from this lengthy endurance battle.
  • Crosses over with Funny Moments, but at the end of the world, 5 beings survive.You, Shira, Gael, A dying Pygmy Lord... and an unnamed Ringed Knight. No backstory, but even after creation has ended, even after you have slain the previous three, this knight lives. They'll respawn if you slay them, the sole other survivor of a Class 6 Apocalypse.
  • The mere fact that going Hollow doesn't reduce the Ashen One's health or defenses in this game.

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