I started a post yesterday about my favorite NPCs in FromSoft games and then started wandering to other topics, as is my wont. The number one favorite NPC in Dark Souls is Solaire. I am comfortable with saying that it’s by a country mile. The only other one who comes even close would be the Onion Knight.
Solaire is a jolly man who deliberately went hollow so he could chase after his windmill, er, his sun. For many years, he was head-canonized as the first born of Gwyn. That was definitively shot down in the third game, which severely split the community. Half the community were pissed that Solaire was done like that. He was the first born! How very dare FromSoft?!?
The other half, and I wvill fully admit that I am one of them, were awed by the way FromSoft wrapped up that hanging storyline. They dropped enough breadcrumbs for you to see what they were doing, but I will fully admit that I did not put it together until I saw a video on it (probably VaatiVidya). But having the Nameless King turn out to be Gwyn’s first-born was a stroke of genius.
Tying it back to Ornstein…. *chef’s kiss* It was amazing. I loved it (even though that fight kicked my ass in my first playthrough), and I applauded FromSoft for making it not be Solaire. I have nothing against Solaire, really, but I have nothing for him, either. He’s just there. I am no stranger to tilting at the windmills, but I have no patience for it in other people, either.
It’s very clear that he’s–no. I’m not going down that road in this post as I’ve done it before and will probably do it again. Suffice to say that he is not my favorite NPC list, and we’ll leave it at that.
So. Who are on my list? This is in no particluar order other than my favorite favorites are at the top.
1. Eileen the Crow (Bloodborne). She is my everything, and I would do anything for her. I will fight other hunters by her side. I will fight other hunters when she cannot. And I will sit by her, grieving, as she dies. I don’t think I’ve ever fought her, but I would have a hard time doing that. The actor who voices her is black, which I greatly appreciate.
2. Yuria of Londor (Dark Souls III). She is of the dark, and she wants you to be her lord. She wants you to usurp the flame and take it for yourself. There is a very elaborate questline involving Anri that is satisfying to do, but hard to do it naturally on your first playthrough. This is my favorite ending of all the games, and I choose it every time I play DS III.
3. Laurentius of the Great Swamp (Dark Souls). He is the beginning pyro teacher, and you free him from a barrel before he’s eaten by the butcher. (Side note: all the butchers in From games are women. This is neat to me.) Once you free him, he goes to Firelink and is your pyro teacher. I just like him because he was so helpful to me in the first game when I needed him the most. I was a pyro, and he buffed my ‘weapon’.
4. Lucatiel of Mirrah (Dark Souls II). I will say that one way in which Dark Souls II (Scholar of the First Sin) is lacking is in the NPC questlines. Most of them, you meet them, move them to Majula, and that’s it. Lucatiel is one of the few who actually moves from place to place and has a story. She’s looking for her brother, the best swordsmaster in all of Mirrah. The tragedy is that right after she dies, he invades you in literally the next area.
5. Patches! (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Elden Ring). Patches was in an Armored Core, and he’s been in every game since. I did not say Dark Souls II, but there is a version in a character called Pate. And, in Sekiro, there’s a character called, ah, Anayama the Peddler who is basically Patches. No one else has said it, but I will. he’s Patches, basically. Like a spiritual successor.
Why do I love Patches so? By the way, he’s super-divisive, too. There are people who kill him on sight in every game. In the RKG Discord, we have a very robust discussion about this. I love him because he is the only constant in the bleak FromSoft worlds. I meet Patches. He’s going to entice me with treasure. Then, he’s going to boot me into a pit or another kind of trap. As he scuttles away, he’s going to laugh and crow about how he’s going to strip the treasures from my corpse. And he HATES clerics.
His questline in Elden Ring is more nuanced and heartbreaking, and I appreciate that they expanded his horizons. I’m expecing him to be in Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon because he first showed up in an earlier Armored Core. I am very much team #LetPatchesLiveHisBestLife.
6. Blaidd & Ranni (Elden Ring). I’m going to cheat and put them as a tandem because their questlines are so entwined. They’re just hot. I could leave it at that and most people who have played the game will nod in enthusiastic agreement. Blaidd is half-wolf and half-man, and he’s all tragic character. Ranni, on the other hand, is probably the most interesting character in the game. I really hope she’s a major part of the DLC.
7. Nepheli Loux (Elden Ring). I just adore her. And because of my undying love for this warrior woman, I refuse to do a heinous questline that makes a puppet out of her. Making her the champion of Limgrave was probably one of my most satisfying accomplishments of the game, even though it didn’t really take that long and wasn’t that involved.
8. Quelana of Izalith (Dark Souls). She doesn’t have a huge role, but she has an important one. She is the second pyro teacher in the first Souls game, and you can only see her if you get your Pyro Flame up to +10. Of course, this is never told to you so I only knew about it from the Googles. She sells you amazing stuff and asks you to kill her mother (which you have to do, anyway). Plus, she wears the witches of Izalith black robes which are very stylish. She’s Quelaag’s sister, and she’s the best.
9. Sirris of the Sunless (Dark Souls III). I loved helping her fight in her world. That was a refreshing change to the third game, and a welcome one. You could help her fight twice in her own world, and the second time is filled with bathos. It’s her grandpa, and he’s someone you can meet earlier. It’s a cool questline, and I love summoning her to help me as well. Getting bits of her stuff along the way only underscores my love for her. Darkmoon Loyalty is perhaps my favorite gesture of all time.
Before I get to the last one, shout-out to Big Hat Logan. He rocks and I love his hat. The hat I wear in the third game is a tribute to him.
10. D (Elden Ring). He was my first love in the game, and I was heartbroken when he was taken from me fairly soon after. His story did not end there, though, and it turned out that I could find his twin. His twin! Also called D. So, same but different? It’s an interesting questline, and I wish the acutal D had been around for longer.
That’s it for now. The top five most likely will not change any time soon, but the bottom five can shift over time.