While few would argue otherwise, Dark Souls has a treasure
trove of hidden lore scattered about in every facet of its design. Whether it
is item descriptions, level design, or seemingly benign utterances, there is a
lot to learn about a world that doesn’t outright force its story upon the
player. Dark Souls is a series that shows but doesn’t tell when it comes to the
narrative.
The first non-playable character that you will inevitably
meet who isn’t immediately hostile is the crestfallen warrior, whose depressed,
snarky and dejected tone and posture sets the tone for the narrative. At that
point in the game, he is clearly stronger and more experienced than you are,
yet, he seems to have given up his quest, the same quest you are about to
undertake. One might think that the crestfallen warrior exists only to inspire
a sense of dread in the player, but that is in fact the least important aspect
to him.
In this game, you are cursed to be reanimated as an undead
every time you die. However, even as an undead, you retain enough humanity to
still be yourself, to continue pushing forward and try to survive in these
unforgiving lands. Your body is rotting away, but your mind still remains.
However, there are undead who have lost their humanity completely and who have
completely lost themselves to the curse. Those are called hollow, as in “empty”,
devoid of all humanity. At first, the trigger for this may seem unclear. Many
posit that dying repeatedly while not replenishing your humanity makes you
hollow, and it is told narratively that you become closer to being hollow every
time you die, but then again, you can die an infinite amount of times and never
become hollow. Then what is the trigger? The Crestfallen warrior holds the key
to the answer.
For most of the game, his appearance is quite human. He has
clearly been capable of maintaining his humanity this entire time, and he hasn’t
been repeatedly dying. Yet, at one point, he attacks you, silently, not saying
a single word. He still has a clearly human complexion, so he has not recently
died, and yet he acts like a typical hollow would. What it seems to be is that
death was not the reason for his hollowing… giving in to despair was. In other
words, a hollow is someone who has completely given up hope.
It stands to reason that if this is the case, then it
explains why the player never sees their avatar go fully hollow. As long as
they keep playing, keep moving forward with determination, they can never go
hollow. The hollowing process applies to the player, not the character. When
they grow frustrated and start to give up, that is when begin to hollow. When
they put the game down, that is when they become fully hollow. It is symbolism
for having given up hope, letting the game win. That is the fate of all who
lose to Dark Souls. They become the next crestfallen warriors.
