Along with its iconic boss fights and punishing difficulty, the Dark Souls series is known for its storytelling. Developer FromSoftware opted not to tell its story through redundant cutscenes that most players would simply skip. But instead allowed the player to learn the game's story if they chose to. Through dialog with other characters, item descriptions, and by paying attention to the environments around them.
FromSoftware didn't just use this brand of storytelling for the main quest either. Each area, character, and boss in the game has its own lore. This lore is so detailed and layered, in fact, that entire websites and YouTube channels exist to discuss its intricacies.
10 Hard Time
Dark Souls begins with players trapped in an asylum's prison cell. As the name suggests, this asylum imprisons Undead.
It is clear from the appearance of the Northern Undead Asylum that it has existed for centuries. The deteriorating walls and rat-infested floors show the asylum's age as well as indicating how little empathy there is for the imprisoned undead. Furthermore, the Asylum Demon that guards the asylum, as well as how isolated the place is, shows just how much effort has been put into preventing Undead from escaping.
9 Why Are Undead Imprisoned In The Asylum?
Those who are Undead are branded with the Darksign and are cursed to forever resurrect after death. This resurrection isn't as great as it may sound though, as death is replaced by an ever-growing state of insanity. This insanity can cause an Undead to lose hope and become hollow. Hollow is a state of losing all hope, free-will, and sanity.
Undead are locked away in the asylum as there is a prophecy. This prophecy states that there will be a Chosen Undead, who will one day escape the asylum and ring the Bells of Awakening.
8 The Prophecy
The Chosen Undead prophecy is told by Oscar of Astora on the player's second meeting with him within the Northern Undead Asylum. Oscar, Knight of Astora will be gravely injured upon the player's second meeting with him and he will be desperate to tell them something.
If the player agrees to listen to him, he will tell the prophecy:
"Thou who art Undead, art chosen... In thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of Ancient Lords... When thou ringeth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the Undead tho shalt know."
7 Who Is Oscar, Knight of Astora?
Oscar, Knight of Astora appears at the start of the game. At the end of the opening cutscene, he throws a body down into the player's cell containing a key so that they can escape.
Oscar is also an Undead, and his motivation to free the Chosen Undead seems to be his reason for not hollowing yet. It is likely that Oscar has thrown keys down to many other Undead too, hoping that one of them will leave the Asylum and begin the pilgrimage.
The second time players encounter Oscar, he will be dying. Oscar's intention of freeing the Chosen Undead is clear after he tells the player's the prophecy then says:
"Well, now you know... And I can die with hope in my heart" before giving players an Estus Flask and key to aid them in their journey.
6 Why Is Oscar Dying?
Indicative of Dark Souls' show don't tell storytelling, the player is not explicitly told what happened to Oscar, but it is possible to work out the likely events.
Oscar is lying next to a pile of rubble. If the player looks up, they will see that the rubble has come from a hole in the asylum's roof. It is unlikely that Oscar just tripped and fell through a pre-existing hole though, despite how hilariously anti-climactic that would be.
When players first enter the Asylum Demon's boss room, the Demon will jump down from above. It is also possible to see the Demon standing atop of the Asylum before entering the room. Putting two and two together will answer why the Asylum Demon is atop of the Asylum, and why Oscar is found smashed through a hole in the roof.
5 Asylum Demon
It's not just the asylum itself that is designed to prevent Undead from escaping. A large, hammer welding demon patrols the giant prison, guarding the door out of the Asylum. Ensuring that no one can leave.
The Asylum Demon is the game's first boss and has a connection to the last. Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight placed the Demon in the Asylum, to ensure that only an Undead worthy of linking the fire would be able to leave.
4 The Prophecy Unfolding
After defeating the demon, players will get the Big Pilgrim's Key, which will help them escape the asylum. One of the game's few cutscenes plays as you leave the Northern Undead Asylum. The cutscene doubles down on the prophecy that Oscar told, the narrator says:
"Only in the ancient legends it is stated, that one day an Undead shall be chosen to leave the Undead Asylum, in pilgrimage, to the land of the Ancient Lords, Lordran."
This re-telling of the prophecy makes players aware that they are indeed the Chosen Undead, and that their pilgrimage is now beginning as they are carried out of the Asylum by a crow.
3 A Trip Down Memory Lane
An asylum that once imprisoned someone where they had to battle a giant demon to leave, doesn't seem like the type of place they'd want to revisit. However, it is possible to return to the Asylum after leaving. In true Dark Souls fashion, it is extremely convoluted though.
Players must hop off of a moving elevator, then take a tricky path to a bird's nest. Players will be promoted to curl up into a ball, for the crow to carry them back to the asylum. If anyone ever tells you that they did this without a guide, never believe anything they say again.
2 An Old Friend
Returning to the asylum may interest first-time players. As they will likely expect the asylum to be a break from the game's difficulty, as they return to the tutorial area to crush enemies that once game them trouble. This isn't the case though.
Player's will have to fight numerous hollows, far trickier than when they first came to the Asylum. The hollows are running riot, as the Asylum Demon is no longer there to crush any escapers.
Oscar, Knight of Astora will also be back at the Asylum. He won't be there to give players a friendly embrace though, he has gone hollow and is a hostile enemy. Meaning that in the time the player had spent away from the asylum, Oscar had lost all hope.
1 Stray Demon
When first-time players reach the area where they once fought the Asylum Demon, they will be happy to see that it is now empty. That is until they are dropped through the floor into a room below where a similar-looking, but far tougher demon will fight them.
Interestingly, it is possible to see the Stray Demon at the very start of the game. When players leave their prison cell, the demon will be patrolling around to the right, foreboding the future encounter.