Scariest Humans In The Dark Souls Games, Ranked

The Dark Souls franchise is renowned for the sheer difficulty of its enemies, from the first enemy the player encounters to the final boss. Each game in the trilogy provides new challenges and further horrors. There are a multitude of grotesque monstrosities and disturbing beasts scattered near and far across the world of each game, and yet some of the scariest enemies in the games are those that most closely resemble humans.

While not all of the enemies on this list are what the lore may refer to as “human” (thanks to the convoluted in-game explanation for their categorization), each is a predominantly human-looking being. Or at least, they start that way, with some becoming something more within their respective fights. They are ranked here by just how terrifying they are to fight.

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7

The Channeler (Dark Souls)

The Only Regular Enemy On This List

The Channeler is the only enemy on this list that the player will encounter several times. The Channeler appears in Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered, and will pelt the player with magic arrows, stab them with a trident, buff their own damage, and heal their allies. To top it all off, they’ll teleport around the area. Channelers are horrible to fight, and the first time a player comes up against an enemy that provides its allies healing, it can be a terrifying experience.

Of course, when compared to boss-level enemies, The Channeler falls behind. But in comparison to the horde of undead monsters that stands between the player and their end goal, it feels like one of the worst to encounter.

6

Oscar, Knight Of Astora (Dark Souls)

Friend, Turned Foe

Oscar, Knight of Astora, is a specifically named enemy that helps the player at first. Oscar is the first entity the player encounters in Dark Souls, letting them out of their cell in the Undead Asylum and offering them the healing flasks they require to beat the game. The player must then leave him to go hollow, becoming another remnant of a dead humanity. This is where Oscar’s story ends.

That is, until the player returns to the Undead Asylum, where Oscar is waiting where the player left him. Except now, he is hollow, and wants to kill them. This reveal of an ally turned enemy is terrifying the first time the player encounters. It teaches them that no one in this world can be trusted, not even those who appear to help. It is a sad experience that is unfortunately repeated with characters like Solaire and Seigmeyer.

5

Vendrick (Dark Souls 2)

A Pacifist…Until He Isn’t

When the player first encounters Vendrick in Dark Souls 2, they are confronted by the husk of a king, wandering around aimlessly. With the Crown of the Sunken King DLC, the player can go into the memories of different characters, one of which allows them to see Vendrick as he once was, emphasizing how much has changed in the time since his rule.

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Vendrick is initially non-hostile, walking around and around, and the player can avoid fighting him by simply leaving him be. However, if they choose to hit him a few times, eventually he will retaliate, and do so with great force. This fight is painful. Vendrick can take a lot of hits and deal huge damage with each attack, making the fight a horrific experience in which the player is frequently one hit away from death.

4

Sister Friede (Dark Souls 3)

One Terrifying Nun

Sister Friede may appear innocent enough at first, a woman dressed in a nun’s garb. It is not her appearance that makes her scary, but rather the sheer ferocity of her fighting style. Wielding a scythe, Sister Friede is a hyper-aggressive attacker who, while not dealing huge damage with each hit, attacks incessantly, with little room for the player to counter.

Once the player gets her low enough on HP, Sister Friede calls for backup, with Father Ariandel taking the stage for the second part of the fight. While he is easier to hit than Sister Friede, Father Ariandel deals more damage with each attack, and requires different tactics to defeat, making this fight a difficult one to plan for. The reveal of the second boss is horrifying on the first playthrough, and can throw any player off.

3

Burnt Ivory King (Dark Souls 2)

A Once Kind King

The Burnt Ivory King is a DLC boss in Dark Souls 2 that is both intimidating in looks and in gameplay. At first sight, the King’s decayed armor is a frightening thing to behold, contradicting the description of him as a kind and benevolent ruler. Once the fight starts, the player discovers that his move set is difficult to overcome, bearing a striking resemblance to the move set of Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder, the final boss from the previous game.

The Burnt Ivory King is a difficult challenge to overcome and is likely to make any player sweat as they try repeatedly to defeat him. While many Dark Souls fans discount the second game as the worst entry in the series, this boss harks back to the brilliant game design of the first game, while maintaining its own terrifying visage.

2

Ornstein & Smough (Dark Souls)

Double Trouble

Ornstein and Smough are a duo of knights designed to haunt the dreams of any gamer who has encountered them. Up until this point in Dark Souls, the player has been lulled into a rhythmic system of block, counter-attack, repeat. Most bosses are a single enemy for them to overcome, with the occasional shake-up to the formula. Ornstein and Smough completely flip this on its head, forcing the player to quickly figure out how to deal with two opposing, unstoppable forces.

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With one attacking quickly, dealing chip damage repeatedly, and the other dealing huge, slow hits, together they make for an onslaught of attacks that feel never-ending. Then, once the player has finally got over their initial fright and defeated one, the remaining heals themselves, absorbing their fallen comrade’s power to become super-charged and provide an even more frustrating, life-threatening experience.

1

Slave Knight Gael (Dark Souls 3)

The Final Boss Of Dark Souls

The final enemy on this list is also the final enemy a player will face in the entire Dark Souls trilogy. Slave Knight Gael is once again initially a non-hostile NPC that is required to complete the story of the Ringed City DLC of Dark Souls 3. Despite his beastly appearance, he is friendly, asking the player to do him a kindness and aid his lady in the Painted World of Ariandel, leading into the story of the DLC.

Eventually, the player will encounter him again. Now, he has consumed the blood of those with the dark sign, and in turn, gone mad. He seeks to take the blood of the dark sign to the painter, so she may paint a new world, and the player has exactly what he needs. The ensuing fight is tough, with Gael altering his move set midway through, and the arena changing throughout. In the end, what is most terrifying about Gael is that the player sees his descent into complete madness, from the strange yet peaceful man at the beginning of the DLC, to the lunatic they must kill at the end.

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