Most casual fans recognize Dark Souls as thaܫt brutally hard series of action RPGs published by the same people who developed Pacman. The franchise offers some fun bosses and actual difficulty co💙mpared to most AAA titles nowadays, and that’s more than enough for the average gamer. For those more hardcore♔ fans, though, Dark Souls is an entirely different beast.

Every item has a description, and every descri🔯ption shines new light on the lore. That lore can then be used to fill in holes in the story and flesh out the narrative. Bosses suddenly have intricate backstories and motivations, areas become all the more grand thanks to the added information, and your journey gains a newfound sense of purpose. For many Dark Souls fan, they aren’t just exploring the Souls world; they’re exploring its history.

Items aren’t the only thing that keeps Dark Souls’ wജorld alive. References, visual cues, and interviews with the staff🐭 all paint an image of what Dark Souls is, and what could haveಞ been. Iℱn some instances, you can even stumble upon evidence of cut content. No matter how you choose to approach to Dark Souls, you’re setting yourself up for an adventure that’ll change the wa🏅y you perceive video games forever.

15 Andre The Blacksmith Was Originally Gwyn’s Son

Andre’s claim to fame in the Dark Souls series has to be his wild beard and bombastic voice, and the all around usefulness he provides you on your adventure by being the main source of upgrading for the better part of the game. What youꦏ probably didn’t know was that Andre originally had a much bigger in the plot as Gwyn’s estranged, exiled son. In Dark Souls’ backstory, Gwyn had a son who did so﷽mething to upset him and was subsequently stripped of all his godly statuses and erased from Anor Londo’s history.

In Dark Souls: Design Work, however, Miyazaki conꦜfirms that Andre was develop🌞ed as Gwyn’s son which explains why he’s the only NPC who actually moves his mouth while talking and why he isn’t rendered using the base character creator.

14 The Duke’s Archives Are Based On Harry Potter

The Duke’s Archives: Seath the Scaleless’ grand library filled to the brim with knowledge long forgotten by m𒊎an. At the center of it all is a moving staircase that connects differe🤡nt wings of the library together. One might think, “it’s just a common fantasy setting” and that it’s connection the moving staircase in Harry Potter is pure coincidence but, in a surprising 𒐪move, 🎀Miyazaki actually confirmed that it’s not only based off of Harry Potter, but that t𝄹he entire area is a reference to the novels.

The character Sieglinde is found outside of the Duke’s Archives, aꦐnd Miyazaki has confirmed that he directly based her off of Emma Watson from the Harry Potter films. 

13 You Don’t Actually Have To Fight A Mimic To Loot It

Mi💎mics, especially early on, are the some of the m🥃ost dangerous enemies you can come across in Dark Souls. They show up in inconvenient areas, where you’re probably not even thinking about whether or not a chest is a mimic, 🌞and then eat you up. If they don’t kill you one hit, then they can get up and toss you around like a ragdoll.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to completely 🌄circumvent fighting them. Toss either a Lloyd’s Talisman or an Undead Hunter Charm at a mimic, and they’ll fall asleep allowing you to loot them without triggering a fight. If you do happen to start a fight, throwing a talisman or charm at an active mimic will put them to sleep.

12 You Can Force A Boss To Kill Himself

Dark Souls’ brutality is one of the main draws to the franchise. You can be killed so easily, and in so many ways, it’s almost a form of art. For as brutal as the game can be towards you, there are a few instances where you can enact that same brutality on your enemies. Parry based 🔯executions have the potential to be quite graphic and backstabs are in a tier of their own, but there’s one instance in Dark Souls II where you can shame a boss into killing himself.

If you manage to defeat Sir Alonne without taking any damage, he’ll commit seppuku and disembowel himself 🔜instead of normally dying like other bosses. While not a part of the Dark Souls trilogy, Demon’s Souls also has a similar si🔥tuation where Maiden Astraea will commit suicide so long as you kill Garl Vinland before confronting her.

11 You Get Your Ashen Estus Flask From The Same Person Who Gave You Your Estus Flask In The First Game

Getting the Estus ♔Flask from Oscar of Astora in the original Dark Souls isn’t just a defining moment for the game, it’s a defining moment for the entire series. It tells us everything we need to know about the world while conveying important gameplay information. At the same time,🃏 Oscar’s immediate death lets us know that this will not be an easy journey, let alone a pleasant one.

Flash forward to Dark Souls III where you pick up your Ashen Estus Flask from a dead corp🍰se in the first area. It’s an unceremonious moment that’s quickly forgotten, but if you take a moment to 🌳analyze the situation, you’ll realize something quite upsetting. Dark Souls III kicks off with dead warriors rising from their graves. Unfortunately for Oscar, he didn’t last very long this time 🍬around either.

10 You Can Amputate The Stray Demon

The Stray Demon in Dark Souls III is one of those optional encounters that's either heaven or hell depending on whe𓆏n, or if, you stumble upon them. A decently upgraded weapon and some thoughtf🐈ul rolling can circumvent most danger, but finding one too early without good gear is a great recipe for death, especially since they can actually pick you up and throw you off the stage.

Thankfully, FromSoftware is completely evil. If you aim specifically for the Stray 🔯Demon’s legs and damage them enough, they'll actually break off sever𓄧ely rendering their mobility. Without a proper way to move around, you're given free reign to take them out however you please. It'll probably still find some way to kill you, though.

9 You Can Keep Summoning/Invading In Anor Londo Even If You Kill All The Bosses

Summoning and invading is a core part of Dark Souls’ design, but it stops being viable as soon as you clear the boss in each area since the mechanics exist to primarily help or hurt you💝 on your path to the boss. Whether it's by design or a complete overlook on FromSoftware’s part, 🍨it's actually possible to keep invading and summing in Anor Londo with all the bosses dead, but the steps are rather specific.

The first step is killing Gwyndolin who isn't meant to be fought until after you're just about done with Anor Londo, but it's actually possible to reach him before anyone else so long as you know where to find him. Then all you have to do is proceed as normal, kill Ornstein and Smough, and then kill Gwynevere. The game will now shift Anor Londo to the dark version where Gwyndolin is the boss of, but since the game resets Anor Londo’s c♓riteria, you can still summon and invade without any bos🐲ses around.

8 Seath Is Blind And His AI Reflects This

Seath the Scaleless has the distinction of the being the o𓄧ne boss in the franch🌼ise who absolutely must kill you at least once before you can progress. It’s that novelty that makes your rematch with him all the more fulfilling, and all the more dangerous. He can cure you, attack you from long range, and fill the boss room with sharp crystals that drain your HP. He's also blind and can't actually see you.

So long as you're quiet, Seath won'🌞t know where to attack. Once you start attacking, he’ll be able to pinpoint you, but walking slowly and staying calm is a great way to get him to lose trail of you. Demon’s Souls also did something similar with the Old♔ Hero who also couldn't see and relied e🅰ntirely on sound.

7 It’s Possible To Miss Meeting Solaire Entirely

Solaire might actually be the most popular character in t🔯he entire Souls franchise. His great voice acting, unique design, and jovial personality made him an instant fan favorite. H♏is side quest🤪 even spans the entirety of the first Dark Souls. He's the first major NPC you meet and potentially the last you'll ever encounter, and 🍬he's 🧸also totally skippable.

If you manage to avoid fighting the Taurus Demon, Solaire will not spawn in his usual location meaning you can't get the white soapstone from him or start his quest line. It's possible𓆉 to find him elsewhere, but now he’ll most likely be at the end of the bridge which means you'll have🌠 to find some way to get past a dragon who can one shot you. Try not to sequence break next time.

6 42 Dark Souls II Players Died Every Second During Its Launch Window

Dark Souls II really tried to ca🥂pitalize on the difficulty of the original Dark Souls. Sometimes it was done tastefully, most of the time it was not. One of theಞ more interesting ins🅰tances of this capitalization was the inclusion of worldwide death stats that showed how many players currently died and the frequency of said deaths. Looking at the numbers, 42 people died every second when Dark Souls II iniꦿtially released. It makes sense considering how poor the level design is compared to the first game. It's re♕ally a taste and to how FromSoftware set us up to fail during Dark Souls II. Still, it's🍌 a fascinating statistic to admire, and we'd be very curious to see every chart FromSoftwa♒re has to offer.