Dark Souls 3 is a world made from hubris and cunning, with powerful figures striving for godhood, riches, or the eponymous Dark Soul. While there are exceptions like the much-loved Seigward, there are plenty of intelligent characters in the series. Some strive to further their own ends, while others are just surviving another day.
Most of Dark Souls 3's most intelligent characters are sorcerers, as it turns out. Given the player's need to level Intelligence to use such magic, it's not too surprising. These are some of the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to Dark Souls 3 characters.
10 Orbeck Of Vinheim
Sorcery has a tendency to drive characters insane in the Dark Souls trilogy, but Orbeck is a thankful exception. Once an assassin for the Vinheim Dragon School, he left to focus on his studies and, later, tutor the player. He's fickle with players who leave him alone for too long, but he can take scrolls the player finds to offer more sorceries, explaining the origins of each one as he receives them.
It should be no surprise that sorcerers are intelligent sorts, and while he's all business at first, Orbeck grows into a steadfast friend to the player as the game progresses. There's no better sorcery for sorcerers in Dark Souls 3, so keep those scrolls coming.
9 Crystal Sages
The successors to Big Hat Logan's crystal sorceries, teaching it to the heretical sorcerers of the Undead Legion and the scholars of the Grand Archives alike. They also have a rapier that's nice for item farming. The Sages' presence on this list almost goes without saying as sorcerers are naturally intelligent, especially those that follow someone whose power was on-par with Gwyn's.
Although, one would think that for such intelligent characters, they'd know not to swing their rapier like a longsword, nor keep doing it after getting parried five times. Maybe the crystals on it make for good swinging.
8 Soul Of Cinder
The Soul of Cinder is a manifestation of every Lord of Cinder that came before, combined into a single figure to defend the First Flame. This includes the player (should they have linked the fire in Dark Souls 1), the Lords of Cinder they've hunted down throughout the game, and Gwyn himself. Through countless cycles of linking the flame, the Soul of Cinder has amassed an arsenal of skills including pyromancy, Sunlight Spear, and DS1 ninja flips.
There's no saying how many minds make up the Soul of Cinder, but they form together with their intelligence bound as one. If there were a "Top 10" on the most intelligent characters in the series, Soul of Cinder would easily sit at the top.
7 Oceiros, The Consumed King
Kings have a bad streak in Dark Souls. Gwyn went Hollow, Vendrick went hollow, and Oceiros went insane trying to become a dragon. His mutated form may remind long-time players of Seath the Scaleless, which is likely whom he modeled himself after in his pursuit of dragonhood. Combined with the Crystal Sages' affinity for crystal sorceries, Seath's influence is significant even in Lothric.
A king is undoubtedly well-educated, especially one that would go through such great lengths of study and transformation. The exact details of Oceiros' fall are unknown, but he seems to share Seath's endless pursuit of knowledge just as he shares his blue hide and blindness.
6 Unbreakable Patches
A constant throughout FromSoftware's work, from Armored Core to Elden Ring (except Dark Souls 2, which has Pate). Patches is a wily type, stealing Siegward of Catarina's armor to trick the player as one of his many antics. But while he's undoubtedly skilled at kicking people down holes, his intelligence comes from an unusual source, one that brought him from the tunnels of Boletaria to the reaches of The Lands Between: a sense of purpose.
Even at the end of the world in the Ringed City, Patches found purpose in punishing greed, surviving for centuries, maybe even millennia through his wits and a strong kick or two. While there is the occasional NPC that lives to see a sequel, the fact that Patches can be found in five of FromSoftware's games is nothing short of incredible.
5 High Lord Wolnir
While the title of "High Lord" means little without context, High Lord Wolnir is one of Dark Souls' most influential characters, second only to the gods themselves. Before falling to the Abyss, Wolnir conquered and unified the kingdoms of Carthus, a massive stretch of desert kingdoms. While little is known of Carthus, its presence is seen in Lothric's catacombs, and item descriptions give a clear scope of Wolnir's achievements. He also took bands from clerics to hold off the Abyss with, which says something about planning ahead.
Wolnir hasn't explicitly been shown to be intelligent, nor the opposite. It's another game of assumptions where if someone is powerful enough to conquer a series of kingdoms known for their aggressiveness, unify them, and be accepted as their High Lord, then they're probably fairly smart.
4 Karla
A heretical witch who acts as the player's main source of dark magic. Once she's rescued from Irithyll Dungeon, the player can give Karla any scrolls or tomes they find that delve into the dark. Miracles, sorceries, and pyromancies can all be bought from her. She's the only spell vendor in the game who teaches all three types, as well as having great mental fortitude by not going completely insane as Irina does. Dark magic tests the mind, it seems, and Karla has no issue with it.
While she may not be one of the most intelligent characters in the series, she is one of the most versatile. Given her dislike of miracle tomes as a whole, she might only be holding out on "normal" spells because she doesn't like them, but that's pure speculation.
3 Pontiff Sulyvahn
Players who enjoy cut content or data mining will know that Sulyvahn was originally going to be much more important than he is now – which is still "very." He was (probably) one of Lothric's first scholars, discovered the Profane Flame, imprisoned Gwyndolin to feed to Aldrich, proclaimed himself Pontiff, created a slew of mutated beasts like Vordt and the Dancer, (probably) convinced Prince Lothric not to be a Lord of Cinder, and did everything in his power to stop the player from getting to Anor Londo.
Sulyvahn is the villain of Dark Souls 3. The Soul of Cinder is a test, and Gael's just doing his job. Sulyvahn can be described in many words, but it can be summarized as him being one of the most cunning, dangerous characters in the series.
2 Yoel Of Londor
Most of Lothric's most intelligent denizens have been covered by now, though some wily types still remain. Yoel of Londor is a pilgrim found just before the Undead Settlement, the only one still alive once his pilgrimage is complete. He seems harmless at first, offering the player free Soul Levels, but with each level he offers, he also imprints a Dark Sigil. With each sigil, the player becomes more Hollow with each death, looking like beef jerky by 100 Hollowing, by which time Yoel shoes his true colors.
As lore-keen players might have guessed, Yoel is an adherent to the Lord of Hollows. He tempts the player with power and reveals that in taking his offer, they're on their way to ending the Age of Fire. This continues with Yuria of Londor later on, but this simple sorcerer knows how to draw a player in: free souls.
1 Blacksmith Andre
Not much is known about Andre, except that he's a skilled smith who lived through the events of Dark Souls 1, no worse for wear. He doesn't have much past that, but he remains an intelligent character in his own right, just because he minds his own business. There's no reason to kill Andre. He doesn't drop anything, respawns if killed but won't upgrade the player's weapons, and has a skill.
He never goes Hollow, and never will for as long as he's smithing, but that's not it. He can't beat the daylights out of the player like he used to; that's not it either. This skill is a special one, one that's shared only by a Daughter of Chaos and the Primordial Serpents...
He can move his mouth. That's pretty cool.
Dark Souls 3 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.