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Dark Souls
| Video game fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dark Souls |
| Abbreviation(s) | DS |
| Developer(s) | FromSoftware |
| External link(s) | https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/dark-souls/dark-souls |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Dark Souls is an action RPG series by FromSoftware. The combination fandom for the Souls and Bloodborne games together is "Soulsborne".
The series, which includes Demon's Souls, tends to follow messages of loops of light and darkness. Represented by fire and darkness. Additionally, it heavily features plotlines where humanity is plagued by the Darksign, a natural part of living that turns beings into Hollows, essentially zombies, after death. Gwyn, a king and god who found the first Dark Soul became afraid of humanity and wished for them to be eradicated but in his plight he himself became affected and became afflicted. The three games take place over thousands of years and are connected but very loosely.
Dark Souls and its subsequent sequels have inspired an entire genre of Video Games called "Souls-likes" which means the game at least shares the atmosphere, story-telling, combat style and or difficulty the series is renowned for.
Canon
There are currently only 3 mainline games for Dark Souls:
- Dark Souls (2011)
- Dark Souls 2 (2012)
- Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin (2015); A repackage of the original game but with improved graphics, changed plot lines, added characters and more. This is the version in which Dark Souls 3 canon is based upon making it the canon version.
- Dark Souls 3 (2016)
While not a part of Dark Souls, Demon's Souls (2009) is the progenitor to Dark Souls' first game, inspiring its entire basis of bosses and level layout along with its method of story telling that has inspired Miyazaki's game style today.
Fandom
The Dark Souls fandom as its core is an extension of the Soulsborne fandom as a whole. The fandom primarily creates fanart along with general discussion. A major source of the content for the Dark Souls fandom is lore videos. Which are primarily hosted on YouTube and delve into the item descriptions and art direction. Due to the vague nature of the lore, it spawns many interpretations.
This fandom is mostly active on YouTube, Tumblr and Twitter.
Fanworks
Videos
YouTube video creators with a focus on Dark Souls and other FromSoftware games include:
Links to specific video fan works:
- Happy Souls (youtube link, Archived version)(newgrounds link) -- animated skits satirizing gameplay, lore, and the fandom
- The Dumbshits Guide to Dark Souls by WildPie101 - A comedically-edited walkthrough of the game. Videos were published between April 2014 and July 2019. (YouTube playlist.) In January 2024, the creator wrote a Twitter thread explaining why the series had ended, and in March 2024, they published one additional unfinished video: "[FINAL UPLOAD] dukes archives WIP project"
Playthroughs/Let's Plays
- The Boss Designs of Dark Souls by TBSkyen - Blind playthrough of the first game, with character design analysis of the bosses.
- Dark Souls Unedited - Unedited versions of the recordings that were used to make the Boss Designs series.
- Revisiting Dark Souls - 2021-2022 replay of the game, used to gather footage for...
- ... Dark Souls Quick Analysis, a series of YouTube shorts about each boss. These were then compiled into a single video: A quick review of every single Dark Souls 1 boss (+ a few interesting NPCs)
- The Boss Designs of Dark Souls II by TBSkyen - Blind playthrough of the sequel.
- Dark Souls II Unedited - Unedited versions of the recordings that were used to make the Boss Designs of DS2 series.
Links
- Wikipedia:Dark Souls
- Fan wikis:
- Dark Souls wiki on Wikidot
- Dark Souls wiki on Fandom.com
- Dark Souls wiki on Fextralife
- r/Darksouls on Reddit
- Dark Souls (Video Game) works on AO3
- #dark souls on Tumblr
- Dark Souls fics and Dark Souls crossovers on Fanfiction.net
- Dark Souls tag on DeviantART