Much is made about the true identities of the various deities that have been worshiped in Drangleic throughout the continent’s history. The Name-engraved Ring makes a point of these gods possibly having gone by different names in the past, driving most to make connections between them and characters from the original Dark Souls. (DS1) None […]
The kingdom of Jugo, originally Hugo, (ウーゴ) is a desert nation to the far east characterized as a country of “real men” (漢) with connotations of being physically strong and tough, brave and aggressive, straightforward and forthright, and honorable and reciprocal. All of these qualities encompass the idea of the fighting spirit, which may be […]
Mirrah is a nation shaped by its geography. Located to the far east of Drangleic, it is constantly beset by invasion from its neighbors — an existential threat that the country has to contend with every single day. Because of this, Mirrah’s military is its most valued asset, resulting in it becoming a country of […]
It is unclear if Melfia, original name Melvia, (メルヴィア) existed as its own country before the introduction of its Magic Academy, much like its thematic predecessor Vinheim. And like the Dragon School of Dark Souls, (DS1) this is largely because the magic school has completely consumed its cultural identity since its inception, which in this […]
The cinematic opens with a massive desert littered with half-buried ruins. The accompanying narration informs us that we are looking at Lothric, which the Japanese subtitles clarify to be where the homelands of the Lords of Cinder “drift” to. Indeed, we can see pilgrims journeying to the castle city, and the surrounding ruins are all […]
Preface Heide embodies perhaps the most frustrating aspect of FromSoftware’s approach to Dark Souls II. We are provided very little to work with even compared to similarly ancient events in the original Dark Souls. (DS1) As a result, reconstructing the overall picture of these ancient civilizations relies more heavily on inference than ever before, though […]
What constitutes a god? Demon’s Souls presents a cornucopia of perspectives, all of which somehow tie back to the soul and magic. However, the most prominent God is heavily rooted in the Judeo-Christian conception. Not so with Dark Souls. There, divinity draws inspiration mainly from polytheistic mythologies. The “gods” — almost exclusively shorthand for the […]
Preface Irithyll is the lengthiest topic I have ever written an analysis for, which serves as a testament to its importance to the story and setting of Dark Souls III. (DS3) Expertly building upon the circumstances from Dark Souls (DS1) and Dark Souls II (DS2) to advance the overall narrative to its natural conclusion, the […]
While giant rats are nothing new to Dark Souls, a rat kingdom certainly is. Various beasts have displayed similar intelligence to the bipedal races, some even capable of speech like Shalquoir. Nothing stops these intelligent creatures from banding together and forming their own societies. Therefore, it is reasonable for rats to establish a kingdom for […]
This post covers everything relevant to Artorias as far as the localization is concerned. It is based on a series of reddit posts from February 2018. Quotes include the official English script, my translation, and the official Japanese script in that order. Off to See the Knight … Oh, and do not forget… The Darkwraiths […]
Lokey Lore 