Characters / Dark Souls III: Lords of Cinder

This page details the Big Bad Ensemble of Dark Souls III, the Lords of Cinder. Head back through here for other character pages. Unmarked spoilers ahead. Ludleth is on the Main Characters page

General

The Lords of Cinder are those who had the strength and power to link the first flame and perpetuate the Age of Fire. When the bell at the Firelink Shrine tolls, the Lords of Cinder reawaken from their graves, but all but one abandon their duty. It is the Ashen One's duty to return the Lords to their thrones to kindle the dying flame, whether they want to or not.

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• Big Bad Duumvirate: The Abyss Watchers burned in the kiln together, and as such all of them must be defeated to drag them back to their throne. On a different note, Aldrich is clearly above his subordinate Pontiff Sulyvahn, but the latter makes a point to ensure Aldrich never goes back to his throne, making him equally important to kill.
• Big Bad Ensemble: They are the collective main antagonists of the game, but all have separate goals and are unrelated to each other outside of their title.
• Four Is Death: Sort of. While there are five Lords of Cinder in total, four of them went rogue and make up the main bosses of the game.
• MacGuffin Super-Person: The Ashen One needs the Lords of Cinder to sit atop their thrones, even if he/she has to drag their lifeless corpses there so they could access the First Flame and keep the darkness at bay.
• Playing with Fire: All of the Lord of Cinders (sans Lothric) have been granted the power of fire from the first flame after becoming Lords. Lorian wields a Flaming Sword because it was scorched permanently after killing the then-Demon Prince.
• Refusal of the Call: With the exception of Ludleth, who is already waiting of his own accord in Firelink Shrine, every Lord of Cinder actively refuses to heed the bell's toll and accept their fate for one reason or another.
• Tragic Villain: With the exception of Aldrich, the others were noble people who have become corrupted in one way or another.

Abyss Watchers

Abyss Watchers

Farron's Undead Legion^note  and they're not the only one in there.

"These undead warriors vowed to partake of wolf blood. They acted in the dark, seeking out any sign of the Abyss, fighting a constant war with its abominations."

The Abyss Watchers were the premier unit of Farron's Undead legion, dedicated to stopping the Abyss wherever it may appear. All of them had burned together for their Age of Fire to continue. As a result, the energy of the Lord of Cinder had been spread to the point it can't be used. They are the very first members of the Big Bad Ensemble to be fought on the Unkindled One's path to Linking the Fire.

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• All Your Powers Combined: The second half of the boss fight involves the final Watcher being on death's door, and the wolf's blood from all their fallen comrades flowing into him/her. It revives them and makes the Watcher into a fully-fledged Lord of Cinder.
• Ambiguous Gender: They aren't referred to with any gender-specific pronouns, and many of them could very well have been female. Though their builds may appear masculine, equipping their armor set on a female character shows it completely hides the character's gender.
• And Then John Was a Zombie: After being resurrected, most of them became corrupted by the Abyss that they had sworn to fight against.
• Animal Motif: They have a fondness for wolves, following in the footsteps of their founder.
• Badass Army: What do you expect from an Undead Legion based on one of the four knights of Gywn, Artorias the Abysswalker?! In ages past, they were known to burn down a nation if it meant containing an outbreak of the Abyss.
• Badass Cape: You can just see it in the picture above. As you find if you run around in the Legion armour, it's about the same reddish-purple colour as the Sorcerer's Hood, and the bottom is ragged and covered in black Abyssal stains.
• Band of Brothers: What else would you call them after they all decided to collectively burn in the Kiln of the First Flame rather than just send one of their number down there? Makes it harder to see them since by the events of the game they're stuck tearing each other to pieces because they collectively went mad down there.
• BFS: They all wield one, fashioned after Artorias' own blade. Which is fitting because his deeds inspired the Watchers and they claim him as their founder.
• Blade Brake: They weaponize this for increasing their maneuverability with their BFS, it also resembles the movement of a wolf hunting its preys, which brings Sif and the corrupted Artorias to mind.
• Call-Back: They feel incredibly similar to the boss fight against Artorias, dark knights with a wolf motif who wield a BFS and hunt the beasts of the Abyss with crazy flips. This is mostly because Artorias was considered the first Abyss Watcher for his actions and Farron's legion consider themselves his successors.
  • Additionally, their capes are covered in the Abyssal stains that covered Oolacile in the first game.
• Climax Boss: They are always the first of the Lords of Cinder you fight, and their fight concludes the first third of the game.
• Combat Parkour: The Abyss Watchers fight with a very acrobatic style which goes beyond normal sword techniques due to the creatures they hunt.
• Corpse Land: Their boss room, which is almost carpeted in the bodies of all the Abyss Watchers who killed each other before you got there. This leads to a powerful moment when the boss Abyss Watcher falls and becomes just one of many, many anonymous corpses... until their Lord of Cinder powers awaken, anyways.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Abyss Watchers were selfless knights, who swore to forever stand against, and hunt the Abyss to protect humanity. They are Artorias' successors, and consider him, whom they call the "Wolf-Knight", to be their founder. Yet despite this, they wear dark and ominous armor and they instilled fear in other kingdoms, but were ultimately noble soldiers, all eager to lay down their own lives to protect their comrades and fellow man.
• The Dreaded: Just seeing one of their signature helms was considered a sinister omen by the masses.
• Dual Wielding: They all wield a Greatsword and a crooked dagger. You can create your own version with The Soul of the Blood of the Wolf, or you can create the Wolf Knight Greatsword, a recreation of Artorias' own sword.
• Emergency Transformation: After their health is completely depleted, the last one will absorb the essence of the others and revive in Lord of Cinder mode for phase two.
• Enemy Civil War: By the time the Ashen One finds them, the Legion is reduced to just two, with the last sane member slaying one of their former comrades. During the battle, a few manage to resurrect themselves (due to their status as undeads and Lords of Cinder), but some of them have gone feral from Abyssal corruption, forcing the sane ones to fight these red-eyed ones to the death over and over again. This is vital during the fight, since some red-eyed Abyss Watchers will spawn during the battle and attack the Watchers trying to kill the player.
• Expy: The Abyss Watchers all possess a strong resemblance to Hunters from Bloodborne. They dedicate their lives to hunting down and killing monsters and Lovecraftian horrors, possess an aggressive, non-defensive fighting-style, gain power and kinship through the ingesting of blood and typically are driven mad, killing one another as a result.
• Fallen Hero: The abyss-corrupted Watchers who attack both you and their still sane brethren can be considered this, as former brave knights turned puppets of the Abyss.
• Flaming Sword: During the second part of their boss fight, the one revived as a Lord of Cinder has their greatsword set ablaze.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Besides the whole Linking of the First Flame they all did, item descriptions reveal the Abyss Watchers were fully aware that by taking the Abyss's taint into them, and even if they survived their battles with the dark all that awaited them was the throwing javelin of a Farron Follower once they became irreversibly tainted.
• Hunter of Monsters: They hunt the eldritch abominations spawned by the Abyss.
• Knight Templar: Their equipment describes them as overzealous in their eradication of the Abyss as their helmet was seen as a sinister omen by the population. However considering the magnitude of what is one of the greatest and most malevolent forces in the franchise, this attitude is understandable.
• Leitmotif: Abyss Watchers.
• Lightning Bruiser: They're extremely fast, being capable of suddenly dashing towards you from half the boss room away and using rapid, multi-hit combos at the drop of a hat. Just like the corrupted Artorias. If you make the Farron Greatsword for yourself, you'll be able to use the same sort of scrambling and flipping techniques that they do.
• Logical Weakness: Their scrambling fighting style is hard to follow, but at the same time, most of their attacks require a rather long windup or a flip, thus making it a bit easier to dodge. Additionally, all the flips mean they'll have to spend time getting up from the ground, opening themselves up for a backstab or giving you time to recover.
• Meaningful Name: A reference to the famous Friedrich Nietzsche quote, doubles as a Bloodborne reference as well:
  "He Who Fights Monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
• Mêlée à Trois: The corrupted Watchers turn the first phase of the fight into this; they won't attack each other, so you and the final uncorrupted Watcher are both fair game.
• Merger of Souls: According to the soul you get for killing them, drinking the blood of the Old Wolf of Farron joined together their souls with that of the Wolf's, implied to be Sif.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Their appearance, moveset, and vocation are oddly similar to that of Bloodborne's Hunters. They relied on drinking special blood and mocked the use of shields, which were design choices in that game. And like most of the Hunters in Bloodborne, by the time your player character reaches them, both groups have gone mad from the very thing they swore to fight against.
  • Like Maria from The Old Hunters DLC, along with using a Sword and Dagger combo, they absorb a great deal of blood in the second phase of their fight and add flaming after-strikes to their attacks.
• No True Scotsman: Talking to Hawkwood after defeating them reveals that they were very proud of their traditional sword-and-dagger combo, and when Hawkwood insisted on using a shield instead, they basically laughed him out of the order. Hawkwood unknowingly had the last laugh, though, since his use of a greatsword and shield mirrored their acclaimed founder's fighting style.
• Not So Similar: As mentioned above, unlike Artorias they abstain from using a shield in favor of using a dagger. Their fighting style is also extremely aggressive and fluid, but littered with countless holes in their defense whereas Artorias would've had none (provided he had his greatshield). And most tellingly, Artorias was reknowned for having an unmatched will, with a ring that boosts poise and proving to be nearly unstaggerable when fought, while the Watchers are easily stunlocked.
  • Their style more closely resembles that of Great Grey Wolf Sif (hinted to be the Old Wolf of Farron, thus the Abyss Watcher's mentor). Sif was a wolf, thus could not use a shield, and was only a puppy when Artorias died, meaning he was incompletely trained and full of defensive gaps like those of the Abyss Watchers.
• The Power of Blood: The Farron Ring's description implies that the wolf's blood they drink is what allows them to fight with such an acrobatic style.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Those with red eyes are Abyss corrupted, thus will fight against the main boss, but will still attack you as well, if you stray too close.
• Refusal of the Call: Like the other Lords of Cinder, the Abyss Watchers were summoned back by the bell to help relight the First Flame, but it is implied that they were too busy fighting their Abyss corrupted brethren to heed it.
• Sad Battle Music: The battle against the Abyss Watchers is accompanied by a particularly tragic male choir alongside a One-Woman Wail, which really helps establish the fact that the once-proud Band of Brothers are being forced to kill their own endlessly resurrecting comrades who have been corrupted by the very force they once fought against.
• Sequential Boss: When the Ashen One starts the fight with the Abyss Watchers, they have to fight one knight with the boss health bar plus keep an eye open for the red-eyed ferals that will pop up and attack both the player and the boss. After the first health bar is drained, a cutscene plays where the energies of the fallen Watchers gather into one more, who then enters Lord of Cinder mode and fights the player in the second phase.
• Shoot the Dog: It's mentioned that they were very willing to do this to kingdoms tainted with Abyss corruption, and burnt down entire cities to prevent an epidemic from happening. However considering the utterly terrifying state of Oolacile after the Abyss runs wild, this is undoubtedly a Mercy Kill.
• Theme Song Reveal: There's a distinctive bell in their Leitmotif which mirrors the one from Artorias' theme, indicating the link between the two.
• Too Many Belts: Their battle attire incorporates an unnecessarily large amount of belts, especially around the leggings. Although it could be argued that this was probably done to add a "cool" factor design-wise.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Their methods of dealing with abyssal outbreaks are rather extreme; they'll wipe out entire lands with even the slightest threat of it. Considering the horrors the Abyss can spawn (like with what happened to Oolacile from the first Dark Souls), they've got pretty good justification.
• Wolf Pack Boss: Visual Pun and lore aside, they have a variation where one is the main Lord of Cinder boss, while the rest either aid or attack them.
  • Though with a twist, as due to their madness they spend just as much time attacking each other as they do attacking you. To them, you are just another member of the ongoing melee.
• Worthy Opponent: The sane Watcher that starts the fight offers the Ashen One a formal salute (pictured above) before they engage them.

Aldrich, Devourer of Gods

Aldrich, Devourer of Gods/Saint of the Deep

The Saint of the Deep

The Devourer of Gods^{Click to see his boss form}

"When Aldrich ruminated on the fading of the fire, it inspired visions of a coming age of the deep sea. He knew the path would be arduous, but he had no fear. He would devour the gods himself."

A sinister being who became a Lord of Cinder by devouring humans and was transformed into a dark, oozing monstrosity. Sometime after he was imprisoned by the Cathedral of the Deep, they eventually became corrupted and started worshiping him, even continuing to feed him Hollows and the occasional god. He is either the second or third member of the Big Bad Ensemble to be fought by the Player Character, depending on whether or not Yhorm was defeated first.

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• Achilles' Heel:
  • He is very vulnerable to Vow of Silence, since most of his attacks use magic.
  • As a being of the Dark, he's also weak to fire-based attacks.
• Arc Villain: Alongside his subordinate Pontiff Sulyvahn, Aldrich is the primary antagonist for the first half of the game, and if you defeated Yhorm first, he's the last Lord of Cinder you fight before reaching Lothric Castle.
• All Your Powers Combined: He uses Gwyndolin's moonlit sorceries, conjures a magic blade resembling Nito's Gravelord Greatsword on the end of the Golden Ritual Spear to use it a halberd, although he also transforms it into a magic version of Priscilla's Lifehunt Scythe. During his second phase, he also wields pyromancy, as befitting a Lord of Cinder.
• Asshole Victim: The other Lords of Cinder have sympathetic elements, but not this guy. Nobody's going to feel sorry for forcing him back into his throne, because if anyone deserved to have his ass kicked and then burn in the First Fire, it's Aldrich.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Aldrich became a Lord of Cinder because of his might, not because of his piety.
• Attack Its Weak Point: He takes increased damage if you hit the Gwyndolin half of him.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: He was able to create a magical version of of Crossbreed Priscilla's Lifehunt Scythe after just having a dream of her while devouring Gwyndolin.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: He worked with Pontiff Sulyvahn to take over Anor Londo and Irithyll and destroy the legacy of the original royal family, capturing Yorshka, cannibalizing Gwyndolin, and turning the populations of both cities into hordes of twisted monstrosities.
• Blob Monster: He ate so many people that he became obese, then continued eating people until he eventually melted into a oozing blob of viscous dark liquid containing bones and maggots. Within the game proper, he is using Gwyndolin's top half as a "face" to fight you with.
• Body Horror: His Gwyndolin "face" does not look right, with overly thin, elongated limbs and jerky, awkward movements. The rest of him is no better, consisting of nothing but black ooze, bones, and maggot-riddled decaying meat. His "Cinders of a Lord" is also nothing but a half-destroyed skull writhing with maggots.
• Call-Back: The arena he is fought in is the same cathedral-like part of the palace in Anor Londo where Ornstein and Smough were fought in the first game. His title of "Devourer of Gods" is also this, since he has devoured Gwyndolin and is using his upper body as a face.
• Cannibalism Superpower: He became a Lord of Cinder by eating people. He has also absorbed Gwyndolin's magic and half his body as his main method of attack.
• Climax Boss: If you defeated Yhorm first, Aldrich is the last major boss the player fights before they're supposed to go to Lothric Castle. The fight also comes with two major revelations to add to its tensity; the Deep had invaded and defiled Anor Londo, and that Aldrich had devoured Gwyndolin.
• The Corrupter: He's got his own rings, which apparently are his effort to share his joy of "imbibing the final shudders of life" with others.
• Dream Spying: According to one of his boss soul weapons, as he was eating Gwyndolin he had a dream of Crossbreed Priscilla, which inspired his Lifehunt Scythe miracle.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: While meditating on the fading of the First Flame, Aldrich had a vision of a coming age of the deep sea, hence the name of his religious movement: the Cathedral of the Deep.
• Eaten Alive: The fate of the countless mortals sacrificed to him. When you fight him, he may be in the middle of doing this to Dark Sun Gwyndolin.
• Evil Counterpart: Of the players throughout the series. Like them he defeated and absorbed the power of his enemies and gods to become stronger. Unlike them however, he did this much more literally.
• Fat Bastard: He "bloated like a drowned pig" after eating many men, then he continued eating and turned into sludge.
• God-Eating: It's in the name, though he only manages to eat one god.
• Hate Sink: Due to being aware of his crimes and taking great pleasure in them, on top of being one of the few villains in the Dark Souls trilogy to avert a Freudian Excuse.
• Holy Burns Evil: The Wolf Knight's Greatsword and other weapons that deal extra damage against creatures of the Abyss are specially effective against the Dark-tainted Aldritch.
• I Am a Humanitarian: He became a Lord of Cinder by eating people.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: As far as magical weapons go, he wields a staff whose tip is made of Dark Souls' Gravelord Blade miracle, and can be figuratively used as a bow to rain down sorceries on you. In his second phase, he can also temporarily transform it into a copy of Priscilla's Lifehunt Scythe for a few attacks.
• Kill the God: As his boss epithet suggests, his goal is to devour the gods, and gain their powers starting with Darkmoon Gwyndolin.
• Kung-Shui: Demolishes the pillars in the room with most of his attacks.
• Leitmotif: Aldrich, Devourer of Gods. What's most telling is that it features snippets of Dark Souls's "Moonlight Butterfly", a leitmotif equally associated with Darkmoon Gwyndolin, whom Aldrich has absorbed and is using as his "face".
• Life Drain: His Lifehunt Scythe attack restores his health based on damage inflicted.
• Long-Range Fighter: Aldrich only has a couple of telegraphed and easily blockable melee attacks, but some really deadly projectile spells. If you get up in his face and start beating him up in melee, he'll teleport to another side of the room- which says something about how strong and tough the late-game Ashen One is, considering even his clumsy melee attacks are capable of shattering half-foot-thick stone pillars.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: He used to be a simple human cleric before he began eating gods.
• Loves the Sound of Screaming: According to both of his rings, he "luxuriated in his victim's screams."
• Meaningful Name: Aldrich is only two letters off from eldritch, and can be translated as such from the Japanese "エルドリッチ".
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His boss name is Aldrich, Devourer of Gods.
• Rain of Arrows: One of his attacks has him fire an arrow into a ball of energy, which in turn sends one of these down at the player. The rain will even follow the player around.
• Refusal of the Call: Aldrich was called back to help relight the First Flame like the other Lords of Cinder, but is too occupied with devouring Gwyndolin to care. Its also implied that his current goal is to usher in the Age of Dark with the aid of his cult.
• Religion of Evil: He is the main object of worship from a cult that follows his belief of a coming age of endless water consuming the earth, called The Deep, and implied to be the Age of Dark.
• Sadist: He took great pleasure in eating people alive, savoring their screams as he consumed them.
• Sinister Minister: Aldrich was a cleric, but his taste for eating men eventually led to people being sacrificed to him.
• Theme Song Reveal: Aldrich's theme is basically a remix of "Dark Sun Gwyndolin", whose body he uses to fight the player.
• Token Evil Teammate: He's the only Lord of Cinder to not be a Tragic Villain. The Abyss Watchers were a Band of Brothers, Lothric has a Freudian Excuse for his misanthropy, and Yhorm was The Good King. Aldrich, on the other hand, is a cannibalistic monster who never once regretted his actions.
• Transhuman Abomination: He is an amorphous mass of black ooze that eats people and even gods, but he Was Once a Man.
• Was Once a Man: More pronounced than the other Lords of Cinder. He used to be a human cleric, but was also a cannibal. After his vision of a "deep sea", he decided to start devouring the gods themselves, and ate so much that he became the Blob Monster you find for yourself.
  Hawkwood: Let's take Aldrich, for one. A right and proper cleric, only, he developed a habit of devouring men. He ate so many that he bloated like a drowned pig, then softened into sludge, so they stuck him in the Cathedral of the Deep.
• Would Hurt a Child: Per the Executioner's Set item descriptions, Horace and (implicitly) Anri are the "only two children to escape Aldrich's clutches." It's never technically specified whether or not Aldrich actually ate the others, but given his proclivities, it wouldn't be surprising.
  Anri: But my duty must be done, even alone. As an unkindled Lordseeker. For the children I knew, bless their souls.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: You'd think Aldrich would be in the Cathedral of the Deep, and there's nothing to disprove that... until you actually get to the chamber where he used to be, full of his congregation. He's actually in the ruins of Anor Londo after Pontiff Sulvahn took the Saint there.

Yhorm the Giant

Yhorm the Giant

The Reclusive Lord of the Profaned Capital

Yhorm is a towering, powerful warrior who wields a huge two-handed cleaver in combat. The descendant of an ancient conqueror, Yhorm became a Lord of Cinder through his prowess on the battlefield. He is either the second or third member of the Big Bad Ensemble to be fought by the Player Character, depending on whether Aldrich was defeated before or after him.

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• Achilles' Heel: The Weapon Art of the Storm Ruler swords, found in Yhorm's boss room, can be used to deal over 8,000 damage per hit to him, allowing the fight to be over in about 5 hits.
• BFS: He wields a machete about as big as he is tall. Needless to say, it's a big weapon.
• Climax Boss: If you defeated Aldrich first, then Yhorm is the last major boss the player fights before they're supposed to go to Lothric Castle. Bonus points if you complete Siegward's questline, causing him to reveal that Yhorm was his long, dear friend and has come to help you put him down.
• Cool Crown: Has an impressive, if jagged and spiky crown.
• Dark Is Not Evil: While certainly very scary looking, with his black armor, and dark hood, Yhorm was one of the most noble characters in the game.
• Damage-Sponge Boss: At 25,000 HP, Yhorm has the highest health pool of all bosses in the game, including the DLC. He also takes halved damage to the legs, forcing the player to either attack his arms and head to deal reliable damage, or use a Storm Ruler sword to finish him off quickly.
• Eyeless Face: Oddly enough, averted; beneath his coif you can see a pair of glowing red eyes in the hole where his face should be. This cast a bit of debate on just how faceless the Giants of Dark Souls II were, or if Yhorm is actually just a very large human. Then again, the "Lord of Cinder" statue has no face, and the Stormruler has no effect on the DS1 style giants found throughout the game, heavily suggesting the former.
• The Faceless: Yhorm's actual face is completely obscured by his coif, making him look similar to the Giants from Dark Souls II. His entire face is visible under the coif in the cutscene that triggers if you complete Siegward's questline.
• Face of a Thug: When you end up getting a good look at his face in Siegward's questline, he looks quite menacing. His eyes are red, his overall face is shrouded in shadow, and he has a scar running across the side of his mouth. Despite this intimidating visage, however, he's one of the most heroic characters in the series.
• Flaming Sword: His weapon becomes wreathed in flames in the second phase of the fight, like other Lords of Cinder.
• Gentle Giant: Prior to his reawakening, he was asked by the very people his ancestor subjugated to lead them as their ruler and protect them, which he did with an iron will and as a One-Man Army. He even went further by entrusting humans with the very weapon that he was weak against, just so he could ease any doubts about his devotion.
• Glasgow Smile: A scar on his face gives the impression of a smile.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: His left cheek has a noticeable scar running along it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He willingly Linked the Fire, apparently hoping that doing so would put an end to the Profaned Flame that had popped up in his realm. This had the opposite effect as intended: the Profaned Flame flared up and immolated 90% of his kingdom. His sacrifice, meant to save his people, wound up being the very thing that slaughtered them. Small wonder he's disillusioned with feeding the Fire again and has turned away from his role as a Lord of Cinder.
• Immune to Fire: He's the only enemy in the game to be completely immune to Fire damage.
• Kung-Shui: Those pillars in his boss arena are not going to stay there forever when he tries to smash you.
• Leitmotif: Yhorm the Giant, a colossal, bombastic piece sung by a choir and followed by triumphant brass, giving you the feeling that you are facing a powerful giant.
• Large and in Charge: Ruled over his realm before Linking the First Flame. He was much beloved by the people, judging by item descriptions and Siegward's questline.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: He used to wield his machete in conjunction with a massive greatshield, until the loss of the one he wished to protect made him toss it away and go all out by adding a notch to his machete's backside. Much like the machete, you can craft it via Soul Transposition.
• Machete Mayhem: His weapon is described as a machete. It's huge, bloodied, and crude, much like a cleaver; and it's got a notch on the blade's backside that allows Yhorm to perform his signature two-handed ground smash.
• Mythology Gag: His fight is one to the Stormlands bosses in Demon's Souls, using a massive cleaver-like weapon like the Adjudicator, having similar movements to the Old Hero, and letting the player use a sword named Stormruler to deliver reliably high damage to the boss like the Storm King. It's also similar to the Penetrator fight, in that you can be assisted by a non-summoned NPC if you complete their questline.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He chose to sacrifice himself to the Fire in order to protect his kingdom. Unfortunately, something went wrong when he did so (implied to be because he was a Giant and not a Human) and cause a rain of fire from the Profaned Flame to destroy the kingdom he sought to protect.
• Odd Friendship: Can anyone really picture the super dour, and serious Yhorm being best friends with the ultra goofy Siegward?
• One-Man Army: Before becoming a Lord of Cinder, he stood tall as a one-man vanguard in order to protect his people. Given he's said to have lumbered across many battlefields, he's certainly got the power to back up those legends.
• Our Giants Are Bigger: Yhorm stands at the height of the Giant Lord from Dark Souls II and looks very much like him, but unlike the Giant Lord, he possesses eyes and seemingly a normal human skull, making it difficult to determine what species he actually belongs to. The fact the Stormruler doesn't affect all the other giants found throughout the game as well as it does Yhorm suggests that he is indeed a giant from the second game.
• Puzzle Boss: The game encourages the player to use the Stormruler Sword to deal very high damage to Yhorm, but this can be subverted depending of the player's choice: it is completely possible to kill Yhorm by using conventional strategies, it just takes some time.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The most prominent feature of his face are his glowing red eyes.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: In comparison to the likes of High Lord Wolnir, Yhorm was actually an effective and much beloved ruler who did whatever it took to keep his people safe. He was also noteworthy for forming a one man vanguard during wars by using his massive Greatshield and Machete to cut swathes through his enemies in defense of his kingdom.
• Shockwave Stomp: One of his moves involves him stomping on the ground. It deals no damage, but stuns the player and pushes them back.
• Suicide by Cop: The description of the Storm Rulers reveals that Yhorm was the original owner of two such swords, handing over one to the humans who doubted him, the other to his friend Siegward of Catarina, with whom he made a promise to ensure Yhorm would be put down once he reawakened as a Lord of Cinder.
• Throne Room Throwdown: His boss arena is his throne room, one of the few remaining intact structures of the Profaned Capital.
• Token Good Teammate: He is easily the most noble among the Lords of Cinder in the game, becoming one to help his people and handing off one of two swords that could kill him to Siegward with the promise that he would take Yhorm down if he forgot his duty and only shirking his responsibilities because of the death of his people.
• Unusable Enemy Equipment: Unlike most of the other (humanoid) bosses, his armor cannot be obtained by the player (it's actually in the game, but Dummied Out).

Lorian, Elder Prince and Lothric, Younger Prince

Lorian, Elder Prince / Lothric, Younger Prince

The brothers who would Link the Fire ^note Lothric is draped across Lorian's back

''"Mind you, the mantle of Lord interests me none. The fire-linking curse...the legacy of lords...let it all fade into nothing."'

Voiced by: Harry Lister Smith (Lothric)

A pair of royal brothers who share their curse, but now choose to forsake their duty and watch as the First Flame fades into nothingness. Lorian fights alone at first, and Lothric comes to assist him later. They are the final members of the Big Bad Ensemble to be fought on the Unkindled One's path to Linking the Fire.

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• Affably Evil: One of Lothric's lines implies that he views the boss battle as giving the Ashen One a Mercy Kill:
  Lothric: "You've done quite enough, now have your rest."
• Ambiguously Human: Their size compared to the Ashen One (who barely comes up to Lorian's kneecaps when he briefly stands up, suggesting Lorian is around 18 feet tall) suggests they're related to the Lords, and beyond that, Lothric's arms and fingers are remarkably long with the latter resembling talons. A few item descriptions heavily imply that they are the sons of Gwynevere (or one of her daughters) which would make them the direct descendants of the Anor Londo Lords.
• Anti-Villain: Yes, Lothric had forsaken his duty, thus putting the fate of the world in peril, but his reasons for doing so are deeply sympathetic, and he genuinely loves and looks after his brother.
• Back from the Dead: Lothric can revive his brother, with his dialogue suggesting this ability is tied to their shared curse:
  Lothric: "Rise, if you would. ...For that is our curse."
• BFS: Lorian wields his signature ultra-greatsword forged from steel. Lothric had a more mundane straight sword forged from platinum, but was never able to use it due to his frail health. Both weapons can be transposed into the Twin Princes' Greatsword.
• Big Bad: Of a sort. Some item descriptions and dialogue imply that the Princes are the ones responsible for the Link of Fire being threatened in the first place, necessitating the revival of the previous Lords and the Unkindled.
• Big Brother Instinct: Lorian was willing to take on his brother's curse even though it broke his mind and left him unable to speak or use his legs, and even in this state, he still takes up his sword to kill anyone who would threaten Lothric.
• Black Swords Are Better: Lorian's greatsword is black, but it wasn't actually forged that way. It was charred black and imbued with flame when he used it to kill the Demon Prince. This is more of a boon than one would guess since it allows him to use powerful flame based attacks right from the start.
• Blessed with Suck: Lothric and Lorian's parents resorted to "unspeakable means" to try and create a perfect heir. The pair's current states and Lothric's reference to their curse should indicate how heavily this backfired.
• Blind Weaponmaster: Lorian's crown seems to block his vision, at the very least you can't see his eyes because of it. He still pummels you with his greatsword incredibly skillfully.
• Bling of War: Lorian wears a set of black-dyed brass armor, but it serves mostly to make clear how pitiful he has become. It also conducts electricity quite well, allowing Faith-based players to skate through the first phase with relative ease.
• Boss Banter: Lothric drolly dismisses the Unkindled One when they first enter his chamber, and he prays over Lorian's body each time he is slain.
• Brought Down to Badass: Both princes qualify, but Lorian especially. Despite being unable to use his legs and severely brain damaged after embracing Lothric's curse he's still capable of beating you into the ground. It helps that Lothric can teleport him to you.
• The Chosen One: Deconstructed; Lothric was designated at birth to be the one to Link the Flame, but he grew to resent his role due to everyone knowing that he would be the one to do it and thus never being allowed any sort of choice or say in the matter. This eventually caused him to become disillusioned and misanthropic to the whole affair, to the point where he decides to just let the Age of Dark come, rather than submit himself and his brother to the Flame.
• Cool Crown: Lorian's helmet, which has a flame pattern on it.
• Creepily Long Arms: Lothric has some freakishly long arms (though this may be due to make it easier for the programmers). Fitting his long, slender arms end with long, slender hands with...
• Creepy Long Fingers: Lothric's fingers are very long and look strangely like talons.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Lothric has this to say as you enter his arena:
  Lothric: "Oh, dear... another dogged contender."
  • To add insult to injury, if the player is killed at any time during either phases of the boss fight, Lothric says this:
  "This spot marks our grave. You may rest here too, if you like."
• Dual Boss: Played with in the fight's second phase. Lothric and Lorian have separate attacks and health pools, but their movement patterns are synchronized and they are attached to each other, so they are engaged as an effectively single unit. Depleting Lothric's entire lifebar ends the boss fight, no matter how much remaining health the revived Lorian has.
• Dynamic Entry: Lorian can begin the boss fight by teleporting right on top of you, forcing you to immediately dodge and making it clear that his crippled state is not going to make him a pushover.
• Expy: Lothric of Elric, being a sickly albino prince doomed by a mysterious destiny. Even the names are somewhat similar.
• Flaming Sword: Lorian's sword has constantly burned ever since he used it to defeat the Demon Prince. Notably they're the only "Lord of Cinder" boss to have flame based attacks from the start since they aren't actually Lords of Cinder but were supposed to be. Once the two enter their second phase, it burns even more than before, signifying his desperation to win.
• Glass Cannon: Lorian hits very hard and has some oppressive combos, but he has relatively little health in the second phase. And he gets less and less health with each resurrection.
• Guyliner: Lothric has these dark smudges around his eyes that give him this look, though seeing how his cataracts are so bad it's not clear why he has them.
• Handicapped Badass: Lothric has been bed-ridden his entire life and can barely move on his own. His brother Lorian was rendered mute, crippled, and probably severely brain damaged after embracing Lothric's curse. The both of them can and will happily and handily stomp you into the dirt regardless.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Lorian has this aesthetic, and it's not hard to imagine him before the two Linked the Flame as the strong older brother. Makes it all the more sad to see him as a brain-dead brute that can't even use his legs.
• Large and in Charge: It's possible they're related to the Lords, as Lorian is so tall that the Ashen One only comes up to his chest even though Lorian is on his knees for the majority of the fight, and while Lothric doesn't even reach his brother's shoulders with both fully erect, he's still larger than a normal human.
• Leitmotif: Lorian, Elder Prince & Lothric, Younger Prince. Interestingly, the haunting chorus does not kick in until the second phase, where you fight both brothers at once.
• Madden Into Misanthropy: Lothric was groomed from birth to be fuel for the First Flame, and the pressure of him to do so, as well as the counsel of a scholar who doubted the linking of the fire, left him broken and nihilistic, wanting to just let the world fade into darkness rather than actually suffer such a fate.
• Mythology Gag: Their boss battle is a twist on the Ornstein and Smough fight, even sharing a similar boss arena and the bosses entering by descending from a higher level. Mechanically, the Princes are a reversal on that fight's dynamic, where the latter had two bosses with one falling at the battle's mid-point, the former has a single boss being joined by the second when the fight enters phase two.
• Noodle People: Lothric is spindly, likely due to poor diet over the years.
• Piggyback Cute: Non-romantic example for fairly obvious reasons, but as shown in the image above, Lorian is basically carrying his brother piggyback during the second phase of the fight, highlighting their bond with one another.
• Praetorian Guard: Not brought up explicitly, but right outside of their chambers there are 12 Hollow Soldiers and 4 Lothric Knights. These soldiers and knights have much higher stats than the generic versions, implicitly because they're the Royal Guard. You'll have to get through them every time you die to the Twin Princes to fight them again, unless you take an elevator from the Dragonslayer Armor bonfire. Then you only have to fight one knight.
• Pre-Final Boss: As they're always the last Lords of Cinder fought, their fight directly unlocks the Final Boss.
• Refusal of the Call: Taken even further than the other Lords, as various bits of dialogue, descriptions and other factors state that the Princes refused to link the fire to begin with, which likely set the events of the game in motion.
• Red Mage: Lothric casts powerful light-based magic, and revives his big brother every time you fell him.
• Resurrection Sickness: In the second phase, Lorian's health bar shrinks with every successive resurrection.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Lorian used to be one, slaying the Demon Prince at least, the last one, and serving as a knight, and Lothric was intended to be one by linking the First Flame. Nowadays, however, they're barricaded in their castle behind their entire royal guard.
• Secret A.I. Moves: Prince Lothric can basically cast holy versions of sorceries, such as a Homing Soulmass that throws spheres of light and a holy Soul Spear, that are completely unavailable to the player.
• Sequential Boss: When the player first engages the brothers, they fight Lorian on his own. After depleting Lorian's initial health bar, Lothric teleports himself from his throne overlooking the boss room into the arena, prays Lorian back to full health, fuses onto his back, and joins the fight, with Lothric becoming the primary target in the second phase.
• Shadow Archetype: To Gwyndolin and Gwyn's firstborn the Nameless King. All are princes of (ostensibly) divine royal lineage whose lives fell apart horrifically. Gwyndolin and Lothric are Squishy Wizards born deformed, disappointing their respective families, and treat the player dismissively. Lorian and Nameless were celebrated knights who eventually faced disgrace and degradation. Yet while Gwyndolin was The Unfavorite and ran the world from the shadows as a show of Undying Loyalty to his family, Lothric was "cherished" as The Chosen One and Refused the Call after already sacrificing his life, content to let the world burn rather than suffer his fate as a Lord of Cinder. Lorian, meanwhile, stayed with his brother and his family to the end (even performing a Heroic Sacrifice when Lothric's own sacrifice wasn't enough) while Nameless abandoned his family to fight for the dragons. Who's the Shadow Archetype to whom depends on your point of view.
• Shoot the Medic First: FROM went to great lengths to subvert this strategy: Lothric and Lorian have overlapping hit boxes, Lothric can't be stunned out of his revive spell, AND he actually has more health than his brother in his second stage. Lothric is designed and all but guaranteed to cast at least one additional revive on Lorian between the transition cutscene and the end of the fight.
• Sibling Team: In the second phase of their fight, Lothric and Lorian fight together, to the point it's like fighting one single boss. Lothric uses his magic to cover Lorian while he's recovering from attacks, and their room looks like they've been at this for awhile.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Lothric is frail in body but whole in mind and skilled in sorcery, Lorian is broken in mind but strong in body and is a Knight in Shining Armor who fights with a blade.
• Significant Double Casting: Gwyndolin and Lothric share a voice actor. See Shadow Archetype for its significance.
• Squishy Wizard: Lothric, although he inverts the "squishy" part. For someone who was bed-ridden since he was born, he's got more health than Lorian. However, he has no way to defend himself in melee and can't even dodge, which is where the "squishy" part comes in. Lorian also picks up the "squishy" part, as he comes back with less health each time Lothric resurrects him.
• Sword and Sorcerer: During the second phase of the fight, Lorian fights as the warrior with a sword while Lothric stays on his back, casting spells and reviving Lorian should he fall.
• Sword Beam: Lorian can shoot one made of light by slamming down his greatsword.
• Teleport Spam: Lorian doesn't have use of his legs, so in order to close distances or escape being pinned, Lothric will teleport him across the room or behind you while in the middle of swinging his sword.
• Trauma Conga Line: The endless parade of horrible events that happen to these two dwarfs most other characters.
• Turns Red: In addition to Lothric joining his brother, the two ignite with embers when they enter their second phase.
• The Unchosen One: Lorian is painted as this in regards to sharing the Linking of the Fire with Lothric. No one told him to go, but he knew behind a shadow of a doubt that his brother would be far too frail to handle the power of the Fire. So he shared his mind and soul with Lothric to lend his brother his strength, leaving himself as a nearly brain-dead, mute cripple to ensure his brother wouldn't have to suffer. Even if they did not link the fire, he still was willing to give up his being for his brother, and protects him at all costs.
• Villain Has a Point: Depending on the player's choices, they may or may not follow through with Lothric's and Lorian's desire letting the First Flame die.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Lothric was groomed from birth to be a Lord of Cinder despite his poor physical condition, and when the time finally came to link the fire, Lothric had grown to despise the entire Linking of the Fire cycle, and just gave up on it to spare himself, and his brother from being tied to it at all. The fact he and Lorian were subjected to a curse that is implied to be why Lorian is the way he is now makes this far more tragic.

The one who waits at the Kiln of the First Flame (SPOILER)

Soul of Cinder / Incarnation of Kings / The Red Knight

See Dark Souls III: Enemies and Bosses for more details.