Artorias? Noble Knight or Corrupt Soul (Possible Spoilers...)

So we know Artorias fell to the Dark from the vanilla game, and those who play the DLC know more.

Now I have to ask.... IS he the heroic souls we believe him to be or is he the darkest villain in Dark Souls lore?

He's Batman.

But was batman a hero or a vigilante?

Yes.

You know what Shkar! You are on my list! I wont tell you which list but you are on one of them!

ViralEnsign_ wrote:You know what Shkar! You are on my list! I wont tell you which list but you are on one of them!

And I'm checking it twice...

He is a wounded mutt and you put him down like the dog he is. He is no hero, Just a fool that fell. Ornstein 4 lyfe!

Ya know.... how you like Ornstien......

https://soulswiki.forumotion.com/t10947-the-knights-successor-under-construction-oh-and-spoilers-for-dlc-not-lore-related-just-item-related

Ooooooooh! Next character will do that. Right now I am having too much fun being a Vit tank life hunter! Prisilla, I<3 your soul! Its so beautiful!

LOL yeah well once the Gravesworn and Darkstalkers kick the stuffing out of you Lifehunters you will have no Queen to worship!

I shall take you all on! I shall defend her and punish all Vit tanks around the world with my ridiculous bleeds!

..... LOL Im a bleed user too! You lose out more when Im bleeding you down.

My scythe vs Yours!

I got this one down pat!

Tis a challenge! Prepare to be eviscerated!

I shall slash my name, Zasalamel, into your back before I string you up by your ankles in the Painted world!

Tzai wrote:Tis a challenge! Prepare to be eviscerated!

I shall slash my name, Zasalamel, into your back before I string you up by your ankles in the Painted world!

Maybe you should get one thats easier to spell.... Im not sure you'll ever finish writing that before I shove the entire length of my Great scythe through your face!

Beep boop bop!

Ignoring the tangent this topic went on:

Artorias is a good knight as I have always said. I always said he was corrupted by the abyss as the abyss corrupts everything. He was little more than a puppet. Using vanilla descriptions we can ascertain that he was a hunter of the dark, he had a strong will, and he set out to destroy the creatures of the abyss. We also know that somehow he changed sides and became the fifth king. However based on the descriptions from the wolf ring and his swords which I summarized above it makes no sense that he would do so willingly. He is portrayed as a noble knight of iron will. That does not simply change naturally. The abyss corrupted him destroying who he was and putting dark in his place. The dlc...

Spoiler:

If I think of anything else I will say it but I think I hit most of my usual points.

How do we know he became the 5th King. Lore wise I've never heard anything about him being King.

However I also have to wonder why he hated the Abyss/ the Dark so much. Did he have a grudge against the beings of the Abyss?

All in all, Artorias was indeed a good knight. He just went up against something that was just a pure force and was eventually overcome by it. I don't think he actually commits an act of betrayal though. If you look at the trailer, he is still fighting the abyss creatures up until you arrive.


Also the abyss is not evil. It was provoked by the foolish people of oolacile and brought upon themselves a wrath not even the Knights could handle. The people of oolacile got what was coming to them.

Spoiler:

ViralEnsign_ wrote:

Tzai wrote:Tis a challenge! Prepare to be eviscerated!

I shall slash my name, Zasalamel, into your back before I string you up by your ankles in the Painted world!

Maybe you should get one thats easier to spell.... Im not sure you'll ever finish writing that before I shove the entire length of my Great scythe through your face!

Looks like I know who my next target is. Now to get a Ps3, train my character again, and come after you... OH god this is going to take a while.

Tzai wrote:

ViralEnsign_ wrote:

Tzai wrote:Tis a challenge! Prepare to be eviscerated!

I shall slash my name, Zasalamel, into your back before I string you up by your ankles in the Painted world!

Maybe you should get one thats easier to spell.... Im not sure you'll ever finish writing that before I shove the entire length of my Great scythe through your face!

Looks like I know who my next target is. Now to get a Ps3, train my character again, and come after you... OH god this is going to take a while.

Hahaha yup and even if you did you would have a tough time

Also Im still not sold on the whole "Artorias is the best good guy ever to grace lordran" thing.

ViralEnsign_ wrote:

Tzai wrote:

ViralEnsign_ wrote:

Tzai wrote:Tis a challenge! Prepare to be eviscerated!

I shall slash my name, Zasalamel, into your back before I string you up by your ankles in the Painted world!

Maybe you should get one thats easier to spell.... Im not sure you'll ever finish writing that before I shove the entire length of my Great scythe through your face!

Looks like I know who my next target is. Now to get a Ps3, train my character again, and come after you... OH god this is going to take a while.

Hahaha yup and even if you did you would have a tough time

Also Im still not sold on the whole "Artorias is the best good guy ever to grace lordran" thing.

Oh I'm not saying he was the best good guy. Especially seeing that I don't see the god's side of this story as "good". I just dont believe he became a DarkWraith. Maybe he started killing lords blades and mushrooms while he had free time to suffer. He challenged the abyss that oolacile brought upon themselves and was overwhelmed by the shear might of a force he knew nothing about. He did what he could, he made a pact with something in the abyss to allow him to get through but it wasnt enough.

Spoiler:

After his defeat, he just had to wait for someone to put him out of his misery. He fought it till the very end and then let it consume him once someone strong enough came by to give him a warrior's death.

ViralEnsign_ wrote:How do we know he became the 5th King. Lore wise I've never heard anything about him being King.

However I also have to wonder why he hated the Abyss/ the Dark so much. Did he have a grudge against the beings of the Abyss?

I don't know where it's from off the top of my head. I don't think he so much became an actual fifth king so much as he suffered a similar fate to the four kings and is referred to as such. I recall seeing him referred to as the "fifth king" in the past but where, when, or any other details elude me. As to his hatred of the abyss he was simply an avowed hunter of the dark presumably because the dark was the opposite of his lord Gwyn. The abyss was simply a manifestation of this dark in its purest form and he wanted to destroy it as he had done to other manifestations of it. His loyalty to Gwyn (backes by his iron will) probably created his passion for hunting those of the dark. Hatred may not be the best way to describe it. The dark was his lord's enemy and therefore hos own. Just as Gough hunted the dragon, Ciaran those who offended Gwyn, and Ornstein those who would threaten Anor Londo (as well as dragons one would assume), Artorias hunted the creatures of darkness. Perhaps with time he developed a hatred for the dark as Gough did for the dragons but I doubt it was initially driven by much more than his loyalty to Gwyn and what he stood for.

I rambled a bit there but I think I expressed what i wanted to.

ViralEnsign_ wrote:
Also Im still not sold on the whole "Artorias is the best good guy ever to grace lordran" thing.

C'mon Viral! His parents were murdered in front of him! How do you think he could afford to become a vigilante good enough to strike fear into the hearts of criminals?!

Then he inherited the Abysswalker Manor........

ViralEnsign_ wrote:Then he inherited the Abysswalker Manor........

It's built right on top of New Londo. The reason he hated the abyss creatures is because they took over his Mancave. Eventually, he just had to give up and agree to share.