Bosses in the Dark Souls trilogy are what people often focus on when discussing FromSoftware's most established gaming series in the modern era. Deservedly so considering they often offer players a challenge only befitting of the most skilled and or patient among them. That being said, Dark Souls is also home to some of the most disturbing and off-putting creature and monster designs outside of the horror genre.
Among these ghouls, demons, and things that go bump in the dark is a collection of especially freaky enemies. Some people liken them to car crashes they can't help but keep their eyes on, but for the sane, it can cause real nausea to stare at them for longer than a couple of seconds.
8 Darkdweller
The human psyche is strange because what it finds strange or freaky can run a wide range of reasonings. In some instances it's the familiar but slightly unnatural that's not great to interact with. Other times it's the thing lurking in the shadows that's hard to make out or identify that creates the same internal feelings. Dark Souls 2 introduces several enemies, but the Darkdwellers might be the freakiest of the bunch.
They have disproportionately long arms and resemble something more fitting of an alien-invasion game than they do an entry in the Dark Souls series. Their faces are hard to make out, and the more one stares at them trying to make sense of it all the more sinister it becomes.
7 Deep Accursed
Normal everyday spiders are rather freaky to a good portion of the human population. Dark Souls III thought it'd be worth it to play on this rather common fear by making giant spiders covered in fur that move with the speed of something one-tenth its size. Deep Accursed are like a cross between a werewolf and a spider and tend to spend their time lurking at the top of rooms with tall ceilings.
It'd be one thing if players were able to take on these disturbing monstrosities in large boss arenas, but encounters with them tend to happen in confined areas where movement and evasion are limited. If there is any solace to find in defeating them it's that they don't respawn, so once defeated they are banished from reality for the rest of eternity.
6 Monstrosity Of Sin
Elden Ring made one thing clear about FromSoftware and their creature designers and it's that they love turning human anatomy into freakish beasts. Before the giant hand, spiders made their appearance in The Lands Between, Dark Souls players had to deal with weird hippo hand hybrids called the Monstrosity of Sin.
They can be encountered in a specific area in the Profaned Capital section of the game. Weirdly enough the lore expresses that these beasts were once females related to an oracle of some sort. It's never explained how or why they manifested into what they became, but that doesn't make them any less discomforting to deal with.
5 Mimic
The idea of a false chest being filled with death is a bit strange, but it's not extremely freaky. What takes the Mimics in the Dark Souls series to the next level is their appearance when they are in fight-or-flight combat mode. Standing at an incredible height, these sentient chests reveal lanky limbs and an elongated torso that makes them tricky to deal with.
Their movement is odd as well as they are a lot quicker and cover much more ground than one would assume. Players who happen to get grabbed by one will be forced to witness the monster chomping down on their body as it lets out a haunting chuckle.
4 Basilisk
Anyone who has made their way through the Dark Souls series knows how off-putting and weird the frog-like weirdos known as Basilisk are. They are these blackish elongated frog-inspired monstrosities that are often found in small packs. When looking at their design one would assume that the giant orange orbs on the top of their heads are their eyes, but that's not the case.
The eyes of a Basilisk are slightly above the mouth, mimicking nostrils. It's one thing for an enemy to be difficult to look at but add in the fact that they can quickly ruin a player's day with the curse that they infect others with and they're simply a living nightmare.
3 Wretch
Over the course of human existence, humans have evolved in a way that makes them suspicious of things trying to mimic the appearance of the human race. This is why the concept of the uncanny valley is so prevalent and common. Wretches can be found in Dark Souls III and are awful human/dragon hybrids that can be found clinging to walls and ceilings.
Not only do they have the heads of humans, but it's closer to the face of a young child or baby than it is to an adult. Their dead eyes and gummy mouths make their expressions unnerving and hard to witness. Thankfully they appear sparingly throughout the game, and there's even a friendly non-hostile one that players come across, but likely attack due to how off-putting Wretches are to come in contact with.
2 Chaos Eater
When the average person ironically sets their eyes on the Chaos Eater, a spongy yellow enemy covered in eyeballs, they'll likely be disgusted. Add in the idea of someone with trypophobia running into one in Dark Souls and that feels like the worst-case scenario.
Trypophobia is the fear or aversion to a ton of small bumps or holes in a condensed area, something that feels like the core design philosophy behind Chaos Eaters. They feel like the worst parts of spiders, octopuses, and sharks all rolled into one. Luckily movement isn't one of their defining factors, so players can steer clear of them if they so choose to.
1 Sewer Centipedes
In Dark Souls 3 there will come a point where players will find what appears to be a drowned woman face down in shallow water. As with most things in the series, this is a trap intended to lure the player in close. These monsters are called Sewer Centipedes or Drifters and are many-legged cursed beings with long human hair sprouting from their heads.
It's clear they manifested with the sole purpose of tricking humans, as they have no actual head or face under their hair. It's one thing to be a hideous beast that's freaky because it's tough to look at, but Sewer Centipedes take the crown as they are meant to mimic humans in an attempt to catch their prey.