History Memes / DarkSouls

* "Every Soul has it's Dark." - John Dark Souls. [[labelnote:Explanation]]There is a joking agreement between fans to pretend that the series title comes from this fake TitleDrop.[[/labelnote]]

* Dying to the Smelter Demon/Smelter Demon Raid Boss [[labelnote:Explanation]]The Smelter Demon is a [[ThatOneBoss notoriously difficult]] (and [[BonusBoss optional]]) boss hidden in the Iron Keep. Its bag of tricks include hybrid fire/physical damage (at a point in the game where most shields will adequately block physical damage, but not two damage types at once), a delayed explosion after an attack that would [[DefensiveFeintTrap leave most bosses vulnerable]], tricky timing on its sword swings and, starting in the second phase, a constant fire damage effect around it as long as you're in melee range of the boss. This combination of mechanics make the Smelter Demon one of the more difficult bosses in the game, especially if you fight it early. Its difficulty has gotten to the point where summoning for the boss usually leads to hilarious group deaths to any one of its many multi-hit combos or area attacks (as detailed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNUSO7Rn1c here]]).[[/labelnote]]

* Wiping on the Smelter Demon [[labelnote:Explanation]]The Smelter Demon is a [[ThatOneBoss notoriously difficult]] (and [[BonusBoss optional]]) boss hidden in the Iron Keep. Its bag of tricks include hybrid fire/physical damage (at a point in the game where most shields will adequately block physical damage, but not two damage types at once), a delayed explosion after an attack that would [[DefensiveFeintTrap leave most bosses vulnerable]], tricky timing on its sword swings and, starting in the second phase, a constant fire damage effect around it as long as you're in melee range of the boss. This combination of mechanics make the Smelter Demon one of the more difficult bosses in the game, especially if you fight it early. Its difficulty has gotten to the point where summoning for the boss usually leads to hilarious group deaths to any one of its many multi-hit combos or area attacks (as detailed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNUSO7Rn1c here]]).[[/labelnote]]

* ''Dark Souls II'' said trans rights[[labelnote: Explanation]] The existence of a coffin in the starting area that does nothing but change your character's gender was received very well by the game's trans and non-binary fans, particularly since ''Dark Souls II'' is the only game in the series to allow the player to change gender after character creation: ''Dark Souls I'' had no mechanic for altering appearance after creation, and while ''Dark Souls III'' does have such a mechanic, gender is the one thing (besides name) that cannot be changed. [[/labelnote]]

* Ill-fitting Aldia. [[labelnote: Explanation]] It has become increasingly common to find ridiculous ways to fit Aldia into existing meme formats, such as [[https://www.reddit.com/r/shittydarksouls/comments/crpo2r/aldia_scholar_of_the_first_chad/ Virgin]] versus [[https://www.reddit.com/r/shittydarksouls/comments/gmvdj4/memes_aside_aldia_is_underrated_af/ Chad]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqiSBr2W6Os Babe Please Stop,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duURSCktuJY Why Do Women Only Like Stupid Jerks Who Treat Them Like Shit?,]] and even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk4_-tPvxFs announcement trailers]] for VideoGame/SuperSmashBros [[/labelnote]]

* It has become common to find increasingly ridiculous ways to fit Aldia into existing meme formats, such as [[https://www.reddit.com/r/shittydarksouls/comments/crpo2r/aldia_scholar_of_the_first_chad/ Virgin]] versus [[https://www.reddit.com/r/shittydarksouls/comments/gmvdj4/memes_aside_aldia_is_underrated_af/ Chad]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqiSBr2W6Os Babe Please Stop,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duURSCktuJY Why Do Women Only Like Stupid Jerks Who Treat Them Like Shit?,]] and even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk4_-tPvxFs announcement trailers]] for VideoGame/SuperSmashBros

* Shamefur Dispray/Dishonorable Display/Commit Sudoku [[labelnote:Explanation]] Sir Alonne is a boss from the ''Crown of the Old Iron King'' DLC, and is a fairly faithful representation of a [[EverythingsBetterWithSamurai Japanese Samurai]]...including committing Seppuku if the player defeats him quickly without taking damage or healing. Given the popularity of the "Shamefur Dispray" meme and the wider memes relating to Engrish and excessive expectations of Japanese society, Sir Alonne's ritual suicide was quickly re-interpreted in with a more lighthearted tone.[[/labelnote]]

* Male pain noises. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Many players joke that the pained moans of the male Chosen Undead when they get hit sound like [[LooksLikeSheIsEnjoyingIt something out of a gay porno]]. This often goes hand-to-hand with the old "Yaranaika?" meme, with the face being photoshopped into the character's head or the sun symbol on Solaire's chest armor.[[/labelnote]]

* "The Legend Never Dies". [[labelnote:Explanation]]Spawned from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyA8odjCzZ4 this video]] by [=OnlyAfro=] poking fun at the Zaphander / Chaoshander build mentioned in the GameBreaker [[GameBreaker/DarkSouls section]], specifically called the Giantdad. It got its own fan song by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzHuCDDzP-E Ken Ashcorp]], and gets parodied in many fanarts, or simply photoshopped like the picture above. Needless to say, it's one giant FountainOfMemes. As of the ''Crown of the Old Iron King'' DLC, it's even (partially) an AscendedMeme.[[/labelnote]]

* K***ht [[labelnote:Explanation]]''DSIII'' has an extremely long and overzealous list of words and letter strings that get censored in character names, which suffers badly from the ScunthorpeProblem. One of said censored words is "[[NWordPrivileges nig]]", which happens to be part of the word "knight". Since the idea of the word "knight" getting censored in a game about knights is inherently hilarious, some players will always write "knight" with the offending portion censored in order to mock said censorship.[[/labelnote]]

*** "I SHALL PARTAKE!" [[labelnote:Explanation]]The also unsettling line the locust preachers shout when attacked.[[/labelnote]]

** "MY FLAIL... BRING ME MY FLAIL" [[labelnote:Explanation (massive spoilers)]]A line uttered by Father Ariandel before the fight with Sister Friede.[[/labelnote]]

*** "I SHALL PARTAKE". [[labelnote:Explanation]]The also unsettling line the locust preachers shout when attacked.[[/labelnote]]

* Vordt of the Boreal Valley [[labelnote:Explanation]] Vordt's dramatic boss theme has become iconic 'boss music', even outside of the Dark Souls fandom itself, often used to convey a sense of [[OhCrap horror]] in memes. One standout video of the meme is
[[https://youtube.com/watch?v=c7BVtGnlxT8 this]] video of chess wunderkind Misha Osipov facing off against Anatoly Karpov, with Karpov in particular being labeled like a ''Dark Souls'' boss, having a healthbar with name appear as Vordt's theme starts playing. The video went viral in March of 2021, accruing almost 10 million views in just 2 months. Many ''Dark Souls'' fans have started to jokingly say that Karpov usurped Vordt, as pretty much everyone outside of the fandom will probably know it as "the Anatoly Karpov meme music" for a long period of time to come. [[/labelnote]]

* Vordt of the Boreal Valley [[labelnote:Explanation]] Vordt's dramatic boss theme has become iconic 'boss music', even outside of the Dark Souls fandom itself, often used to convey a sense of [[OhCrap horror]] in memes. [[/labelnote]]

** [[CasualCompetitiveConflict "Wat r u, casul?"]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]The video and the fandom around it is [[{{Understatement}} a little]] [[SuffersNewbiesPoorly disparaging towards casual players]].[[/labelnote]]

* YOU DIED [[labelnote:Explanation]]The series' GameOver message, which lives on in infamy due to [[NintendoHard how frequently it gets drilled into players' heads]]. And [[http://i.imgur.com/Tw6qQ.gif some]] [[http://i.imgur.com/J5shf.gif variations]] [[http://i.imgur.com/2zIGT.jpg of the text]], [[http://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/162/images/801-2-1407137950.png as well]].[[/labelnote]]

* Kill Emma.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Emma, High Priestess of Lothric Castle, is an NPC you meet early on who primarily exists to prevent you from entering Lothric Castle too early. You ''can'' bypass her by simply killing her, but doing so forces you to fight the [[ThatOneBoss Dancer of the Boreal Valley]] far earlier. In ths grand tradition of Dark Souls, the majority of messages left in her area [[SchmuckBait tell new players to kill her]].[[/labelnote]]

''Videogame/DarkSouls'', having gained considerable popularity through the sheer amount of mouth-to-mouth praise which cemented its status as a step-up from ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' (leaping from SleeperHit to BreakthroughHit for Creator/FromSoftware), is also prone to spawning endless amounts of [[MemeticMutation memes]] among the fandom. Here is a list detailing them:

* YOU DIED. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The series' GameOver message, which lives on in infamy due to [[NintendoHard how frequently it gets drilled into players' heads]]. And [[http://i.imgur.com/Tw6qQ.gif some]] [[http://i.imgur.com/J5shf.gif variations]] [[http://i.imgur.com/2zIGT.jpg of the text]], [[http://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/162/images/801-2-1407137950.png as well]].[[/labelnote]]

''Videogame/DarkSouls'', having gained considerable popularity through the sheer amount of mouth-to-mouth praise which cemented its status as a step-up from ''Videogame/DemonsSouls'' (leaping from SleeperHit to BreakthroughHit for Creator/FromSoftware), is also prone to spawning endless amounts of [[MemeticMutation memes]] among the fandom. Here is a list detailing them:

** For some reason, the [[TheGhost unseen]] crow is often drawn by fan artists as a [[Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl Papi]]-like [[http://2static2.fjcdn.com/comments/Isn+t+the+same+from+papi+_a8c93b2b71cfcd7d44125876cd3a71dd.jpg harpy.]]

* Vordt of the Boreal Valley [[labelnote:Explanation]] Vordt's dramatic boss theme has become iconic 'boss music', even outside of the Dark Souls fandom itself, often used to convey a sense of [[OhCrap horror]] in memes [[/labelnote]]

* Plin Plin Plon [[labelnote:Explanation (spoilers)]] This represents the three notes that begin Gwyn's theme, which occur when the Soul of Cinder attains its final form and begins using Gwyn's tactics. Some have said that the nostalgia and tragedy brought on by the abrupt incursion of these three simple notes has driven them to tears.
* Vordt of the Boreal Valley [[labelnote:Explanation]] Vordt's boss theme has become iconic 'boss music', even outside of the Dark Souls fandom itself, often used to convey a sense of [[OhCrap horror]] in memes.
[[/labelnote]]

* Plin Plin Plon [[labelnote:Explanation (spoilers)]] This represents the three notes that begin Gwyn's theme, which occur when the Soul of Cinder attains its final form and begins using Gwyn's tactics. Some have said that the nostalgia and tragedy brought on by the abrupt incursion of these three simple notes has driven them to tears.[[/labelnote]]