Iudex Gundyr is the first boss the player encounters in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dark Souls 3. For many he’s a litmus test to introduce play✅ers to the difficulty of the game, the mechanics of boss fights, and what’s to be expected moving forward.
But from a lore perspective Iudex is an interesting and complicated individual. There is a lot of mystery surrounding his backstory that hints at some crazy implications for the world and the player. Here are some things that the average player probably isn’t aware of that makes Iudex a much more intriguing character in the wor♈ld💛.
10 Iudex Gund🧔🌃yr Meaning
Iudex’s name is incredibly appropriate for the role he serves within 𒊎the game. Iudex is Latin for judge or test and Gund is an old Germanic word for battle. This means Iudex Gundyr is essentially judge/test battle.
Considering he’s the tutorial boss for the player and is meant to serve as a gatekeeper in the game’s lore his name is spot on. It’s unclear who be﷽stowed him with the Iudex title, but he was clearly꧂ meant to serve as a gatekeeper based on his name alone.
9 He Weeds Out The Weak 🌊 𒀰
Within the context of the game I🍸udex is charged with being a barrier to entry for all but the strongest of Unkindled souls. The world is thrown into chaos as a result of the Lords of Cinder refusing to light the First Flame so someone is needed to force them to.
This requires an individual strong enough to face the various horrors of the kingdom and go up against the Lords themselves. As a result, 🌠Iudex is a test to see ไif a potential Unkindled is strong enough for this monumental challenge.
8 Armor Resembles Old King Doria🌼n
The armor set Gundyr wears has an in🥃teresting item description. It states that the armor was “Modeled after a former king”. There’s no further mention of who that former king might be.
Many fans have pointed out that the armor strongly resembles the armor worn by Old King Doran in Demon’s Souls. How the blacksmiths would have become aware of this figure from an e🌃ntirely different universe is unclear. For lore purposes it could be that these two worlds are separate dimensions or realities and somehow someone obtained a glimpse of the other and was inspired to make this armor. More likely it’s just a🐽 fun easter egg.
7 Crown Re༺ferences Another 💧
T💮he cr𒁃own Gundyr wears also bears some resemblance to the one worn by Ludleth of Courland. Ludleth is one of the Lords of Cinder, though very little is known about him. The fact that so little is known about him is shocking considering he rekindled the Age of Fire.
On his throne it does reveal that he was exiled, likely due to his meddling with the art of Transposition, a taboo practice in the world. It could be that he was once a King🍒 before being exiled for his arts. If tru🍌e then this could be the ‘former king’ that Gundyr had his armor based on and would explain why the crowns bear such a resemblance to each other.
6 Champion Gundyr Is His P꧑ast Self
One interesting encounter in the game that is never fully exᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚplained is when the player travels to the Untended Graves and fights Champion Gundyr. This warrior is a carbon copy of Iudex with the same armor, weapon🥀s, and tactics.
One theory is that they’re the same person and that Champion Gundyr is the past version of Iudex. This means Iu♔dex was a Champion before being defeated in battle, had the Coiled Sword jammed into his body,♛ and fated to become a gatekeeper to ambitious Unkindled.
5 Fights Like Champion, But Sꦰlower
Further evidence reinforcing this theory is the fact that the Champion fights almost exactly like Iudex with one notable expectatio💫n, he’s faster. In fact, Champion Gundyr is overall faster, more precise, and lighter on his feet.
Iudeꦆx Gundyr by comparison is slower, lethargic, and stumbles around more. Granted it could be due to the creature growing inside him. But it✅’s probable that Champion Gundyr was at the prime of his life before having the sword embedded in him and being imprisoned for thousands of years causing his skills and abilities to atrophy.
4 May Be From Alternate World ꦬ
In Champion Gundyr’s soul description it ౠstates that he was once an unkindled who woke to find the world had begun an Age of Dark because the First Flame had gone out. This is an odd entry considering the world, as the player knows it, had never entered an Age of Dark.
This would suggest that Champion Gundyr was defeated in his own world and someone transported him to the current world to serve as both a judge and warning for Unkindled that failed in their task. This means that Iudex is from another dimension. Perhaps a world where the player refused to reignite the Flame in Dark Souls 2.
3 Cemetery Of Ash &amꦺp; Untended Graves
Another interesting piece of evidence supporting the idea that Iudex Gundyr is from a world that fell into an❀ Age of Dark is the locations he and his Champion from are located in. Cemetery of Ash and Untended Graves are functionally the same location in the world, notes left in one can be found in the other.
Untended Graves is a dark and abysmal location hidden behind an 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:illusory wall whereas Cemetery of Ash is brighter and part of the main path. This would suggest that ☂Untendeᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚd Graves is located in an alternate world where the flame was allowed to die and exists in the Age of Dark.
2 ꦍ 🌊 The Player Is The Unknown Warrior
When the player travels to Untended Graves this means they are visiting a world in an Age of Dark thousands of years ago. Considering they fight and defeat Champion Gundyr this means the player is the Unknown Warrior mentioned in the soul description.
The player is likely sent there as a warning of what will come in the Age of Dark and to prepare Gundyr to be a boss i𝕴n the other world. While the player doesn’t e♚mbed the Coiled Sword or transport them, it’s possible they weakened him enough someone else could.
1 Possessed By Pus Of Man ꧒
The creature inside of Iudex is likely the Pus of Man, a parasitic growth from the Abyss that is infecting beings in the world. It’s likely thi🧔s occurred while Iudex was lying dormant for all those years waiting for an Unkindle🐓d to remove the sword and challenge him.
There are some interesting implications with Iudex being infested with this creature. Either the Abyss is bleeding through and consuming the Age of Fire to enforce the Age of Dark, starting with the beings trying to preserve the Age of Fire. Or it could be that humans, like Iudex, are slowly becoming infected and transformed into dragons via the Pus of Man, ushering in an Age of Ancients and thereby s🗹kipping the Age of Dark.