Dark Souls may have incredible lore for its environments and several iconic boss battles, but it also includes some popular NPCs. One such NPC is Solaire, and despite being the subject of memes and appreciation posts for years, a Dark Souls fan has pointed out a detail that a lot of fans may have missed.
Solaire is beloved for several reasons. For starters, he is one of the first non-hostile characters will come across in their Dark Souls playthrough, and if talked to he can be summoned to help with the difficult Bell Gargoyle boss battle. His cheerful personality and love for “jolly cooperation” are other strengths, as he is far happier than other characters within the Dark Souls universe. Lastly, his praise the sun pose went on to become the most widespread meme of the Dark Souls franchise, with many loving the sight of a kind, T-posing knight in a world full of demons.
While Dark Souls’ praise the sun meme influenced gaming as a whole, the concept also had a profound impact on Solaire, with his armor based on the sun. While his helmet design is certainly unique, as it covers his entire face, it is his armor that fans have often drawn attention to. However, despite so many eyes being on the sun-covered cloth, few picked up on the fact that it actually hides a face.
This easily missable Dark Souls detail was pointed out by Reddit user HaydnDavey, and despite seeming obvious, they completely missed this aspect of Solaire’s character design. In their defense, the face is fairly subtle, as it may just look like a few black lines in the yellow portion of the sun to those that are not inspecting it closely. Eyes and a nose can be seen, though, with players debating if a chin or mustache are also present. A majority of comments were comprised of sun emojis and faces like the one on the armor, showing the community’s enduring love for Solaire.
Those that were aware that a face exists on Solaire’s armor wasted no time sharing some fun backstory on the detail. For starters, CriminyBiscuits commented that Solaire painted the symbol on his armor himself, explaining why a face is present. Brightening up the armor with a cheerful, goofy face suits Solaire’s character, after all. Redditor Financial-Neat7887 added that his armor has a different name from the rest of the iron set, as it is dubbed “Armor of the Sun.” This is another nod to Solaire crafting his own chest piece.
While some players clearly knew about this obscure Dark Souls lore before HaydnDavey posted about it, others likely learned something new about Solaire upon seeing the post. With a sneaky face present on his custom-painted armor, there is yet another reason to adore the gleeful knight.
Dark Souls Remastered is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
