Demon's Souls Lore - The Story

what's up guys i'm dave klein and welcome back to my demon souls lore series today i'm going to discuss the wider story of demon souls the origins of the old one and the multiple demonic scourges that would affect the lands before starting i should warn you that there will be major spoilers so that said let's jump into the story of demon souls on the first day man was granted a soul and with it clarity on the second day upon earth was planted in irrevocable poison a soul-devouring demon but god is so what exactly is this old one this is something that was actually brought to my attention in one of my other lore videos by the swordsman 100. this is a theory that was originally presented to epic namebro by dj slayer0791 and it's pretty interesting in our first cinematic with the monumentals they tell us the following in the distant past under benevolent rule the world was united owing to the soul arts first focus on this monument that the various monumentals are gathered around the image that's depicted is that of a plant that's starting to blossom now take the dialogue from the intro on the second day upon earth was planted in irrevocable poison a soul-devouring demon until a lust for power caused the awakening of the old one in this next scene immediately following the sapling we see a twisted and gnarled plant branching out from the ground presumably the old one when we finally meet the old one it's shown to be dried out branches and trees with its innards filled with vegetation but before the old one would go awry according to the monumental we meet all was quite good the people used soul arts to help unite the world under a benevolent rule so what are the soul arts well given its name it's magic that stems from the soul which all humans and all living things have been granted a soul is the essence of thought which is latent in all living things according to the monumental however the power of the soul art stems directly from demons you must never forget the power that you now enjoy contradicts the essence of the soul for it stems from demon magic and we know thanks to sage freak all magic is invigorated with the presence of demons as you know magic is one of the soul arts the scourge of boletaria has activated all souls and energized all magic perhaps then we should work to preserve this state of heightened reality this lust for more power would lead to mankind's very undoing and their peace wasn't to last in the distant past under benevolent rule the world was united owing to the soul arts [Music] until a lust for power caused the awakening of the old one across the land seat a colorless deep fog and the world faced extinction at the hands of the demons the old one a demonic entity forever hungry for all souls those of man and all living things was awoken thanks to mankind's lust for power by feeding on the souls of the world this would mean the end of all living things as we know it and with it a fog slowly crept through the land it's very likely some of the first demons who came about during this period were the prime evil demons we can find throughout the game during pure black tendency they aren't as strong as other demons who present themselves as bosses we find throughout the game very notably the monumental mentions that across the land seeps a colorless deep fog and these primeval demons upon defeat drop colorless demon souls linking them with this spread they also somewhat resemble the old one in shape when one loses the soul one loses the mind and a man barren of souls is absorbed by fall and banished to the infinite darkness the old one is a bottomless pit of nothingness with an insatiable appetite for the souls collected by its faithful demons so as the old one is awakened demons come into fruition with powerful demon souls these demonic entities collect more souls for the old one which it consumes thanks bee we were able to lull the old one back to its slumber yet only after the loss of innumerable souls and most of the world lost erased by the father somehow the monumentals managed to lure the old one to slumber they were able to link the awakening of the old one with soul hearts and outright banned them we contained the old one here below the nexus and prohibited the soul arts finally we became monumentals half living sentinels of the fabric of reality alas the other monumentals are perish and only i remain so how did the monumentals lure the old one to slumber well there's one more demon we need to take a look at i have always been here in this nexus i was here when the old one awakened and i will be here when it rests once more the maiden in black has been in the nexus at the very least ever since the old one awakened something more is that the maiden in black who aids demon slayers with her command of soul power was once one of the oldest and deadliest of the demons the following is going to be more of speculation into the events during this early period of the game and a lot of it is open for interpretation so let me know your thoughts perhaps the maiden in black was actually one of the demons during the initial scourge of demons along with those primeval demons especially if she is one of the oldest of them using her soul grants the ability of soul sucker which absorbs the souls of whomever one touches her power utilizes solars to transfer souls and gain or give incredible power thanks to them what is it see the sound the power of souls [Music] of course after all thou requires strength go ahead touch the demon inside me let these vagabond souls become thine because we know that a lust for power awakened the old one what if it was actually the maiden and black who had this lust for power that ultimately awakened the old one by using soul sucker that would show a true lust for power and she was once one of the oldest most dangerous demons herself we never learned from the monumental how they got the old one to go back to slumber but we do know that the maiden in black has been bound to the nexus similar to the player with an axial binding which we can spot on her leg the mark of those imprisoned by the nexus the bearer of this seal is bound to the nexus never to be free even in death upon killing her in the nexus we see this directly at work as she will soon get right back up i am sorry i cannot die not while the nexus binds me not only that but she herself tells us i have always been here in this nexus what if the monumentals managed to capture her in her demonic form and bind her to the nexus in order to do their bidding have you received assistance from the candle maiden she is a prisoner of the nexus it is her duty to love the old one back to its slumber that is why she helps those who hunt demons [Music] and that is why she has become a demon herself according to loki's souls who does fantastic translations of the original japanese and i'll link to in the description the original games dialogue was a little more nefarious has the fire keeper helped you well she's captured in this linchpin to help those who kill demons and lead the ancient beast to slumber again otherwise she'd be a demon by choice and the like it would seem she was actually captured and put into the nexus for the very specific purpose of putting the old one to slumber so what if the nexus was created as a prism for the maiden in black and with the sole purpose of countering the old one in the monumentals cut scene we see a giant object hovering above the old one and we know that the old one is below the nexus just by location name alone on top of that if you look high up in the sky while below the nexus you can see a shadow above as this game is on the ps5 i highly doubt this was some sort of rapping error and find it to be pretty likely we're looking at the shadow of the nexus high above thou canst not quit the nexus four how could you simply leave something floating in the sky so i theorized that the monumentals were part of their self-proclaimed benevolent race who utilized the soul arts the maiden in black was as well but her lust for power and use of soul sucker eventually awakened the old one in order to stop it the now monumentals gathered together created a nexil prison above the old one where they managed to imprison the maiden in black until she put the old one to slumber you have destroyed all of the demons you soon shall hear the call of the old one then the canal maiden shall guide you below the nexus where the old one awaits she will love the old one back to slumber that is after all her purpose after putting the old one back to slumber the monumentals ban the soul arts however i believe they use these arts in part to create the nexus and in part to bind specific people with the nexial binding to it i also find it likely that this is the power they've used to live longer and watch over the nexus and state of the world finally we became monumentals half-living sentinels of the fabric of [Music] reality ah cease you are wasting time i am a monumental you cannot harm me there is some conflicting dialogue regarding what happens to soul arts once the old one is put back to slumber which we need to discuss the monumental tells us we contained the old one here below the nexus and prohibited the soul arts the soul arts shall be lost once the old one is lulled back to slumber boletaria was spared from the demons but also lost its knowledge of the soul arts on one hand we're told the monumentals banned the soul arts after the old one was contained on the other we're told they were lost and the narrator tells us that it was specifically knowledge of the soul arts that were lost to me this indicates that soul arts can be performed as in the past without the old one being awake however demons heighten awareness of these and the power of these which inevitably leads to greed a lust for power and the re-awakening of the old one okay all of that said let's move past the theories and back to what we definitely know after the old one was a lulled back to slumber thanks to the monumentals they put together measures to prevent this from happening again in order to mend the fabric of what land still remained we entrusted six leaders with six precious arch stones one to the king of a small yet industrious land [Music] one to the king of the borrowers underground one to the wise queen of the great ivory tower one to the chieftain of lost and ill-fortuned souls one to the shaman of the tempest worshipping shadowmen and the last to the great giants of the northern lands the arch stones were placed in the fringe lands that survived we contained the old one here below the nexus and prohibited the soul arts finally we became monumentals half-living sentinels of the fabric of reality [Music] archstones were placed in six regions by the monumentals all with widely varying cultures the first of these was one to the king of a small yet diligent land which as we find out is the northern kingdom of boletaria looking at the map we can try to determine where some of these locations were boletaria i think is a little more up for debate but as we know the castle itself was built in between a mountain and it runs along a river one of these two locations looks like possibilities to me before the blight boletaria was a grand kingdom the king his knights and his subjects were modest and plain but also steadfast and compassionate i've spent much time in my studies in the cultured countries of the south yet no country holds my heart as does boletaria astrava or rather ariona son of king alant has a fond world view of boletaria however while we hear glowing reviews from those who are royal or of high rank in bulletaria our great king was a magnanimous leader it was stalin's spirit caring of his subjects he fought valiantly against the vile and depraved there was another side it was a kingdom where the poor were forced to fight for the rich without much reward but hell at least the demons don't send us to our deaths in battle there's this skinny fellow clad in the most lavish armor who's always mumbling about some mission he's another one who's managed to stay sane like yourself probably some pampered little lordling by the looks of his attire i'd give an arm just for the buttons off his shirt meanwhile stone thing mines which boletaria had a strong relationship with may have been close by perhaps then this mountainous region to the east here the second arsenal was given to the king of the burrowers underground a city of miners who maintained the giant tunnel long ago the efforts of the hard-headed burrowers allowed boletarian soldiers to carry out their work these miners worshiped the dragon god and an underground shrine was constructed both to worship and imprison the dragon god the miners ancestors were inspired to faith by the great dragon bones and paid their respects by maintaining the shrine with great care it's also likely that stonefang was affected by the first scourge of demons for ages ago a fire demon was imprisoned in an underground temple littered with the bones of dragons all hearthstone in sharpstone ore in the game used for basic enhancement of weapons seems to come from these mines so it makes sense bulatario would have had an alliance with stonefang if not perhaps taking them over at some point in a southern area with what looks to be towers is likely the location of latria we're regularly told that southern bolotario is known to be a comparatively advanced region compared to northern boletaria where the scourge is spreading and emanating from similarly lachry is known for its wealth and intelligence of those who dwell there it was here that the third archstone was given to the wise queen of the great ivory tower nobility and status would seem to have been highly important in latria where we find the former noble's wife cells a ring of avarice likely describing their lifestyle luxurious gold ring fitted with a large jewel once a symbol of wealth and debauchery however their large prison shows a darker side and how they likely treated the poor and those they found disagreeable taking a look at our map it looks like on the western edge was the valley of defilement and its depraved chasm the valley of defilement was the location of the chieftain of lost and ill-fortuned souls who was given the fourth archstone multiple streams run and eventually end here making way for a swamp that would end up collecting all of the muck and garbage from neighboring kingdoms this bile that collected into the base of the valley would poison and cause plague for its many inhabitants all that is unclean ends up in the giant swamp at the base of the valley of defilement the swamp is a cesspool of putrillage vermin and plague on the opposite end of the map we find an island on the eastern side which is likely the location of the shrine of storms the island shrine of the shadowmen who worship storms and mourn the dead as eastern weapons and rings such as the rhonin ring can be found here it would make sense to be mapped out to the east here the fifth archstone was given to a shaman of the tempest worshiping shadow men as they were located on an island and were likely a seafaring population it makes sense they would worship storms as storms could mean life or death on the sea those who sought storms and braved them were considered as heroes and their dead were honored in a ceremony the hero of storm shall never act in cowardice nor shall he devour a single bird of the sky if the dead fail to please the adjudicator's master the harvest gold crow their carcasses shall be nod upon until nothing but bones remain the shadow men believed in death they were presented to an adjudicator who would judge them of being worthy or not to be presented to the storm beast who represented clouds and storms the hero's remains were cleansed with bright water and offered to the storm king a beacon for countless storm beasts whose broad wings black in the sky in the north the sixth and final arsenal was given to the great giants of the northern lands and while we can pretty easily map out this region as the artstone and the nexus has been destroyed there isn't much more we know about the area for a more in-depth look at each of these locations check out my other lore videos highlighting the history and demons of each location equally important is west of boletaria where the game's in-game church would seem to be located saint estraya is known as saint estrella of the west and both selling villain and garl vinland are from the west for i am selan of the west i seek my brother girl finland selling's gear is the dull gold set in the highlands this dull gold armor is worn in the battle by woman of higher rank as that's the case if this is the valley of defilement which is inflicted by fog the region of the church would be even further west it's possible this is also where merde was located which is likely is what was active at this point in the timeline the first temple was built in murder a land that fell long ago the church of demon souls and its religion would become a major influence over the land spreading far and wide this church has a strong belief in a singular god and is very anti-magic a miracle is a heavenly act but spells are the acts of demons the work of soul arts they have similar effects and yet one is clearly evil and the other is clearly good magicians in the end are mere servants of the demons ironically while there likely is a god in the game who created the old one in the world the god whom the church seems to worship is actually the old one that irrevocable poisonous soul devouring demon the church utilized talismans to perform miracles and what's very likely one of their original talismans the talisman obese which is an old wooden amulet features a symbolic depiction of the old one what was considered the depiction of god was in fact an image of the old one portrayed as a force of feral chaos to cement this connection the talisman of beasts can perform both sorcery which the church now considers blasphemous and a representation of demons as well as performing miracles over time the church amulets would evolve into the now standard talisman of god a handcrafted metal amulet featuring a symbolic depiction of god used to cast miracles as both miracles and sorcery utilize the soul arts and the church is so anti-sorcery how did the church spread so widely well if we take a look at the miracles and demon souls they perform spells that are antithesis to the demons they represent the storm demon is a demon who shoots out magical thorns so its demon soul can be turned into a miracle which symbolizes the power of god in opposition to the forces of evil this miracle is anti-magic field and pretty clearly opposite to a beast who utilizes magic the meat cleaver made with adjudicator's soul steals a small amount of hp from his target when attacking so the miracle from its soul created is regeneration and a symbolic denunciation of the heretical soul devouring adjudicator which gradually restores the caster's hp meanwhile the demon leash monger soul creates the spell of poison cloud which poisons people thus its soul is used to create a miracle which is an anathema to the miasman disease that gurgle at the defiled base of the valley and thus is cure which cures the caster of all status ailments so while these still utilize the soul arts it makes sense why a religion would pop up around the time of the first scourge of demons who thought anything that seemed like the opposite of what the demons were must be good demons are bad therefore the anathema to them a denunciation of them and any spell that performs something counter to what a demon represents must be good right of course at the end of the day these are still soul arts the church is still corruptable and those who belong could still lust for power and take advantage of others this religion seems to have spread far and wide i was branded a witch at a very young age and have been persecuted ever since although i never had ill intentions this black craft of mine is intrinsically evil if there is a god he gave us souls to do good not to practice witchcraft my accusers detested my dark arts for good reason for the past i have taken is tainted this has been one of my realizations since coming to boletaria while we don't know where yuria hails from it's pretty clear that the church's religion branded her as a witch we see a stigma against anyone who isn't a part of the church that was born with an innate connection to the soul arts legend says that cursed witches are born holding the ring of magical nature the natives of savage lands avoided at all costs we neutralize the old one and banned the soul arts then we spread the archdose and in order to mend reality monumentals we became [Music] however man's memory of history is ever short and before long he repeated his mistakes the monumentals perished and the archdomes were long forgotten [Music] and the short-sighted king arland once again roused the old one centuries past and perhaps even longer long enough that the shaman of the shrine of storms and their culture completely faded from existence now considered ancient this shrine was used in a ghastly ritual by an ancient tribe but all that's left here now is a fine pile of dust while there was a king of burrowers underground who was given an arch stone and likely one of the ancestors who worshipped and revered the dragon god they're now in the past the miners ancestors were inspired to faith by the great dragon bones and paid their respects by maintaining the shrine with great care we no longer hear about any king but we do know that a city of miners maintain the giant tunnel long ago the efforts of the hard-headed borrowers allowed boletarian soldiers to carry out their work so it's possible there is no longer a king and stone thing was perhaps annexed into northern boletaria as a whole meanwhile there was an interesting development in latria master freak is a great man who has systemized the magic of the soul arts to make it possible for human imitation according to demons-souls.com a now-defunct official website sage frank was known as a renowned magician known as the visionary he is familiar with the working of souls and has organized his findings in a scholarly manner he is the sage of yormadar yarmodar has a strong connection to latria and could potentially be the royal line there the royalty there wear the silver coronet wizard set and utilize a silver catalyst while the silver coronet is described as a decorative piece bestowed only to magicians of the distinguished dormidar school in the demon souls remake whereas the original game puts it as given to the famous magicians of the distinguished yormodar family the point is clear the royalty of latria are associated with yormodar in some fashion the silver catalyst has a similar description we can link all this to latria for the final location at the top of the ivory tower is known as the throne room of yormadar so latria took a strong interest in sage frake's soul art's rediscovery latchery is known for its intelligence overall with the first queen who's bequeath the artstone described by the monumental as wise the royalty class as mentioned above are trained in magic lantery is bathed in moonlight with moonlight stone being an ore that applies a strong magical effect to a weapon and exclusively found in latria i therefore find it very likely that the strong spread of the knowledge of soul arts began here in latria it was long enough ago to establish that royalty were taught it but not so long ago as sage frake is still alive to note the church also unwittingly dabbled in spreading the soul arts the rich who would become invested in the church have numerous artifacts that are endowed with some kind of magic as an example selling villains curved sword blind is one of vinlan's treasures the blade is illusory and light as a feather it can pass through a shield's defenses the warriors of the church who used these weapons or found them seem to get a past their weapons deemed holy veto the moonlight knight is possibly the most egregious example of this he's a legendary warrior of the church who utilizes the large sword of moonlight which is a legendary large sword that shines with moonlight and has a blue crystal blade that is composed entirely of light making it impossible to block with a shield one of the few remaining relics of god while skills with faith not intelligence bear in mind just how strongly moonlight is associated with sorcery and spells and of course at its core faith and intelligence are two sides of the same coin and both are soul arts to note in latria boletarian spies can be found and in particular in the church of the fool's idol as bolotario was spying on latria i find it very likely this was to discover more about magic in the soul arts and with the spread of the soul arts inevitably there came to be a lust for power while northern bolitaria and the king of a small yet diligent land were entrusted within our stone it's notable that the current king is king alan 12 that means there were 11 prior king alants and that's presuming the king who was given the r stone was king of lantha first we know of an old king duran in bolataria who lives in perpetuity as a demigod going further into the timeline it would seem that king alant became king after the rediscovery of soul arts or at the very least they were discovered during his reign king alant the twelfth by channeling the power of souls brought unprecedented prosperity to his northern kingdom of boletaria we're specifically told he channeled the power of souls to bring bolitaria to prosperity indicating a usage of the soul arts and with that he was fondly looked at by the nobles who knew him and his son estrava tells us with a round table of the bravest knights the noble twin fangs falafax and bjor alfred the tower knight met us the penetrator and the brave tribesmen longbow ullan and his fearsome legions and that night of his round table bjor has nothing but the utmost respect for king alant our great king was a magnanimous leader he was stalin's spirited caring of his subjects he fought valiantly against the violent depraved we're told by a strava that before the blight boletaria was a grand kingdom the king his knights and his subjects were modest and plain but also steadfast and compassionate i've spent much time in my studies in the cultured countries of the south yet no country holds my heart as does boletaria but we know that king alan 12 had another interest soul brandt and demon brant were twin blades of the royal bolatarian family combined they made the northern regalia old symbol of the king of boletaria the shape of this blade unites both soul brand and demon brand as one even bolitarian royal family legend scarcely mentions its origins but it is believed that a malicious force left it behind in this world along with the old one one half of this blade demon branch was made to be wielded against demons the less demonic the soul the wielder the more powerful this blade becomes hence old king a lance choice to wield soulbrand instead so taking a look at soulbrand we discover that it's a blade that can cut the very soul and since his coronation the sword has never left king alan's side the closer the soul of the wielder is to a demon the more powerful this blade becomes no wonder it was chosen by old king elance when a character performs good actions in the game such as co-opting and helping other players they gain white character tendency and demon brent would become stronger in their hands meanwhile if a player performs darker actions such as killing named npcs or invading other players worlds and killing them as a black phantom they gained black character tendency and soul branch would become stronger in their hands king alant chose soulbrandt at his very coronation into becoming king indicating he always had a dark side despite what his compatriots and son may have thought of him it's unclear exactly why but the monumentals perished and the archdomes were long forgotten [Music] and the short-sighted king arland once again roused the old one perhaps combined with learning of latrium's discovery of the soul arts and lusting for power with his demon brand king alant chose to awaken the old one thinking somehow this would make him even more powerful after all during his role it seems the kingdom of boletaria thrived thanks to his usage of the soul arts so it makes sense that he began to search for even more power thus awakening the old one after all it was seen that demons and their immersions invigorate both miracles and spells as you know magic is one of the soul arts the scourge of boletaria has activated all souls and energized all magic perhaps then we should work to preserve this state of heightened reality [Music] oh no no heaven forbid the demons steal souls and wisdom our sanity such blasphemy must not be permitted after the dark arts spread across the land holy miracles were witnessed once again either that or perhaps there was yet another side to him surely you have seen for yourself the pain and suffering that fills this world but god is massively and soul created the old one a poison to the poison the old one will fade upon our souls and put an end to this tragedy while it's certainly possible after becoming a demon for the old one king atlanta and his disposition changed the only thing we learned directly from him is a nihilistic view of the world oh the king he's gone mad like the rest of them or perhaps he was mad in the first place i can never tell with those eccentric royal oafs after awakening the old one king alant evolved or rather devolved into a horrendous shell of his former self desperately clinging onto his beloved soul brand don't you understand no one wishes to go on in awakening the old one a new scourge of demons was wrought onto the world but atari was cut off from the outside world and those who dared penetrate the deep fog never returned but valofax of the royal twin fangs broke free from the fog and told the world of politaria's plight that the old king alant had roused the old one the great beast below the nexus from its eternal slumber and that a colorless folk had swept in unleashing terrible demons in boletaria a false demonic king alant came back from the old one and took over the kingdom the man who wielded untold power calmly watching over the kingdom from on high was not in fact old king alant but a demonic impostor who stood in his place it seems this is around when he sent that officials to do his bidding who began wrecking havoc on the local population appearing just before demons ran rampant in bolataria the fat ministers who insinuated themselves into favor with king alant abused the population with a feign these fat officials even went to stonefang where it seems they abused the miners working there as well then came the dragons the big girl lizard thingy the king led it back to us along with those wretched demons that monster leaves a trail of charred carcasses which is great for business of course but unless you're a scavenger like me you'd better stay clear it seems there was a battle and the soldiers of boletaria did their best to fight off the dragons and defend themselves against the onslaught of demons but failed the king's defended by the black souls of mighty knights and the fire-breathing drake they defeated even myself that's how i ended up in the dungeon beware the limits of your own power eventually the knights lost and boletaria became a kingdom filled with the soul starved and dragons eating the remains brave knight or lowly fodder the demons snatched their souls regardless of their station plummeting them all into madness and those who dare cling to their humanity were hunted down it is the end of great boletaria as we know it in stonefang the city miners were dispossessed of their souls they have no thoughts of their own and work in silence tirelessly without purpose the demons took on the forms of the ancient bones dug up around them becoming the dragon god from the great dragon bones the miners ancestors had discovered in latria there was an old monk who felt dejected by the queen the queen banished that depraved old man from the land he returned in strange golden garb with foul demons in tow this golden guard was a demon within itself and despite seemingly knowing this the old monk accepted this for his revenge if you have no future to lose then who could blame you for placing your faith in the golden robes he returned with demonic power and took over the land placing the royalty and nobles in prison he then set about creating his own man-made horrific demons in the shrine of storms where there is not but death the demons took over even the dead since the appearance of the flying storm beast the souls of the dead have been lured to the island by its demons where they are revived by finding purchase in the bosoms of uninhabited skeletons here the demons took on the forms of gods from the tribe's religion appearing as storm beasts an adjudicator and even the storm king perhaps this demon a flying beast resembling a gigantic stingray is a manifestation of the thoughts and feelings of the shadow men who worshipped it centuries ago finally in the valley of defilement a missionary expedition had been sent made in australia and girl finland found the valley and were horrified by the neglect and plague they found astraya was once the sixth saint but now she lives beside those awaiting death in the valley of defilement to ease the pain of the valley's dwellers australia chose surrender to a demon soul over the cruel god she worshipped made in australia and an attempt to alleviate their suffering willingly accepted the demon's soul in order to use it for the defiled ones of the valley however instead of addressing the real problems of mounting corpses infesting and poisoning the water supply they used she seemed to alleviate their pain either with spells of relief or possibly by taking their souls making them soul starved and thereby essentially lobotomizing them a theory i found thanks to reading translations by loki's souls and which i discuss in depth in my maiden australia in the valley of defilement lore video either way after her entrance its inhabitants afflicted by poison and plague await their deaths in this forsaken place attacking those who wander in hoping to offer their souls to the one woman who showed them compassion valofax also spoke of the enticing power of the demon souls each time a demon claims a human soul the demon's own soul is invigorated by the life force and the power of a mature demon soul is beyond human imagination warriors far and wide entered the fissure to northern boletaria either enticed by this rumor or with the mission of saving boletaria and stopping the spreading fog it didn't spread quickly mighty warriors lured by the possibilities braved the fissure to breach the accursed land but none have returned the colorless deep fog slowly creeps beyond volataria's borders humankind faces a slow and steady extinction the deep fog will eventually swallow all lands near and far that politaria has one final hope a lone warrior who has braved the painful fog oh has the land found its savior or have the demons found a new slave in approaching the fisher to bolataria the player hears the voice of the monumental luring them in brave soul who fears not death [Music] i shall guide you to the fissure so that you may know the old upon entering the fissure the player begins in the outpost passage notably the end of this passage is a dead end with a vanguard demon a vanguard demon with chains on it who would seem to have been captured by the monumental who'll lure you here notably the vanguard demon who we find in the shrine of storms is lacking any of these chains leading to the plausibility this particular vanguard demon was planted here should you somehow be successful in defeating it you're led directly to the dragon god and what could be viewed as an ambush as the hallway you're in is an easy path for the dragon to breathe fire on you or simply punch you [Music] in dying the maiden in black a prisoner to the nexus brings you back to lost life from its vessel that strength be granted so the world might be mended soul of the lost withdrawn from its vessel [Music] let strength be granted so the world might be mended so the world might be men but very importantly this time with a nexial binding making you two a prisoner to the nexus the mark of those imprisoned by the nexus the bearer of this seal is bound to the nexus never to be free even in death you should know that you will be imprisoned in the nexus forever just like the poor candle maiden you must destroy all the demons if you wish to be freed from the curse of the nexus as depressed as the crestfallen warrior is he seems to have gotten on to this idea himself you came for demon souls or to save this land and be remembered as a hero but it's all the same you're just another prisoner of the nexus we're welcome here as long as we keep slashing up demons have you met the last surviving monumental those fools revived the old one on a whim and now they've trapped us here in the nexus in a desperate attempt to undo their mistake interestingly he puts part of the blame of the awakening of the old one on the monumental but who's to say it does lead to the question of if king alant claimed he would destroy the old one once and for all so the monumentals allowed him access however at this point it's completely speculation and every other character seems to put the blame squarely on king of land either way it's clear given the evidence that the last remaining monumental is trapping those who travel into the fog within the nexus it's likely that the monumental has the best of intentions to stop the old one however you can view their method as being less than honest how did you defeat my demonic reflection how many souls might you have devoured i want them the rest is up to the old one if it is to be then you shall be beckoned should the player accept their new fate and hunt down the various demons they'll find themselves eventually harnessing enough souls to be summoned by the old one you have destroyed all of the demons you soon shall hear the call of the old one then the candle maiden shall guide you below the nexus where the old one awaits she will love the old one back to slumber that is after all her purpose hark i hear a voice of your the old one calls for thee let us precede the lord to its lair with the souls and power you've gathered you now have the power to become a demon old one i have granted thy wish a new demon come now be good this does lead to the question of how one becomes a demon do they have to willingly accept a demon's soul or can a demon simply take over a powerful being we know made in australia willingly accepted one but it's unclear when it comes to the phalanx tower knight and penetrator demons who were all once warriors of king alan's roundtable perhaps in order to save their kingdom they accepted the demon soul but were tainted by it becoming the demons they are now and you too now have this opportunity should you choose it whatever the case thanks to the number of demons you've defeated and souls you've gathered in the process you are the first one to end up below the nexus since king of land you have been chosen by the old one will you seek the everlasting demon souls or has the monumental blinded you whatever your choice you are our first visitor may you be welcome here in slaying king of land you now have an option thy work is done slayer of demons go back above [Music] the nexus shall imprison me no longer [Music] i shall lull the old one back to slander the old one and i shall slumber evermore as it should be thou mayest go be gone to thy world should you choose to let the maiden in black put the old one back to slumber you'll be able to save humanity my thanks at last the end is inside [Music] [Music] [Music] the old one along with the maiden was swept back into the lulling fog boletaria was spared from the demons but also lost its knowledge of the solar arts the souls lost during the pandemonium were never retrieved and today the unstable world has another monumental to hold its fabric together a brave new hero of unprecedented power [Music] however there's another choice on the table there is a question i have long had in my mind it is whether we are right to banish the old one but i now have the answer and it is a resounding no listen closely the old one must not be cut off from us if the candle maiden tries to entrap it kill her then absorb the souls of the old one for yourself the old one is an unfathomable vessel it contains all the souls collected by all demons you will gain the power of a king and i will gain knowledge from beyond and that my dear friend is the righteous path you must not allow trifling matters to dissuade you the demon soul is ripe for the taking if truth be told that woman has been tainted by demons herself she would thank you in her death for relieving her agony so should you choose you too can lust for more power and ignore the world at large the old one senses a new and powerful demon by its side and before long the world will be engulfed by the deep fog bring more souls [Music] that wraps up this lore video on the story of demon souls i hope you enjoyed and i hope you found that the theories i presented made sense if you have alternate theories i'd love to hear them and why i know this video was fairly long so i appreciate you sticking it out to the end a huge thank you to everybody who supports me on patreon sunshine pickle zelkin valorfax davis mcgrath chris fry and jason buck and of course everyone else it genuinely means a lot to me if you enjoyed this video please consider checking out some of my other content i've been making from software lore videos for seven plus years and i put a lot of effort into my other videos like my historical who made series or my comedic retrospectives of games i love and i'll see you guys next time peace [Music]

Channel: DaveControl

Views: 95,802

Rating: 4.9267936 out of 5

Keywords: Demon's Souls Lore, Demon's Souls Story, demon souls story, demon souls lore, Demon's Souls The Story, Demon souls the story, Demon's Souls Lore Story, Demon's Souls Lore The Story, demons souls lore, demons souls story, demons souls the story, The Nexus Lore, demon's souls nexus lore, demon's souls maiden in black, maiden in black lore, Lore, The Story, Story, Demon's Souls Explained, demon souls explained, Demon's Souls Old One Lore, Old One Lore

Id: WINSYtFsVtw

Length: 52min 19sec (3139 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 14 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/DaveControlLive]

Put a lot of work into this, it's a bit of an epic in length!

I hope this serves as a decent breakdown of the full story of the game, and I did an okay job showcasing what we know vs. what my theories were (while also backing them up. :P) !

[u/Bailzee85]

Excellent video, I would heartily recommend

[u/itsmeleo47]

You’re literally one of the best Souls lore YouTubers out there. Consistent quality all over the place!

[u/recnexus]

Dave this is so great! Thanks man, gonna watch this tonight.

[u/SimplyCarlosLopes]

Given the length I'll definitely watch it but saving it for when I have more time.

I like your videos!

[u/HK_Berettajunkie93]

Watched it last night. Fantastic job Dave

[u/DIOnys02]

You don’t know what you just did. He will find you. He will chase you. He will spy on you during night and day. He will milk you out until you're empty. Run! Run as fast as you can and never mention souls lore anymore in your entire life