My Theory on Undeath

This is my theory:

Undead do not eat, do not sleep, do not need to drink, and are biologically immortal (as far as we know). Whether Human or Undead, they are still considered Hollow, though being Hollow and actually "going Hollow" are two different things.

We can assume that one needs to loose their minds to go full Hollow, all the characters in the game we've met so far have been sane and human up until their wills break or their mind snaps. The Player can change between Hollow and Human, so we can assume that NPCs can too. We can also assume that we've really met no humans yet. Humans, as far as I know, don't just poof into soul stuff when they kick the bucket. And their skin doesn't resemble jerky, either.

Now, we've seen a lot of bodies in the game. Many of the people we meet we find their armor here and there. There is even all the armor from all the different classes. But this raises questions. Why are they there? Why didn't the bodies reform? How can Oscar be dead in the Garden, leave messages in Anor Londo and elsewhere, but still warp back and rescue you?

My theory is that when a Human dies, their body is left
behind in a corporeal state, and their soul reforms at a bonfire. This would explain many of the bodies we find. Oscar is in the Garden because he died there as a human.We didn't get his armor back at the Asylum, because it is literally a part of his soul. Quelana is dead, her body is being guarded by her brother and her soul is sitting forlornly outside her sister's lair. Each and every one of the starting characters died in Lordran trying to do something. Havel was dismembered and stuffed into a bunch of boxes in Anor Londo.


There are of course flaws to this theory. I came up with two or three just writing this. But I want to know what you guys think. If you've got any ideas to contribute, by all means. If you can see the flaws, point them out; you might come up with something while explaining why this theory doesn't work.

You also missed out the fact that undead also have no need to urinate or defecate, just to say.

Interestign theory. Just to point out dont say "when a human dies". Say "when an un undead suffers their first death". This is because only humans with the darksign become hollows and they are titled as undead at that point not human.

Serious_Much wrote:You also missed out the fact that undead also have no need to urinate or defecate, just to say.

Ah yes, thank you. I knew I was missing something.

DoughGuy wrote:Interestign theory. Just to point out dont say "when a human dies". Say "when an un undead suffers their first death". This is because only humans with the darksign become hollows and they are titled as undead at that point not human.

True, true. But wasn't it mentioned somewhere that undeath can be inflicted upon someone? I remember something about the Depths...

Don't forget that Solaire came to the land to become undead and go on a journey. So he might not have started with a Dark Sign.

And what ofour favorite onion knight Siegemeyer? I'm sure I remember his daughter sayingsomething about killing him again.

Yeah she said if he goes hollow she will just have to kil him again, in a creepily happy voice.

Creepy, happy, melancholy, and extremely cute voice*

Havel was dismembered and stuffed into a bunch of boxes in Anor Londo.

That is all I needed to know.

I think its more likely that ste of armour belonged to one of havels warriors. There no proof havel dies before the time you kill him. But thats just my opinion.

An interesting observation. I've wondered about it myself.
Game design will unavoidably conflict with how things need to click.
The class scattered bodies are nice in the sense that they tell a bit of the story or journey of other characters: the warrior perishes in the gaping dragon arena, the bandit near the drakes etc. etc. The main character never leaves is body behind, but if he did well, lets just say the landscape would be filled with bodies.

Maybe the body is left behind only when a character finnaly goes hollow. I imagine a bandit character trying again and again to beat all the drakes and when he finnaly snaps with his last death his body is left there, and he won't try again, he has given up, much like some players quit playing because of the difficulty.
Meh, guess it doesn't make much sense, but narrative-wise, it's nice to see where each class died.

One small thing that always bugged me. In Seath's lair, in the archives, not the crystal caverns, when you go back you find a soul of a great hero. That has to be Big hat right? But he is still there, hollow as he may be...
There are others however that never leave their body behind even after going hollow, like the crestfallen warrior... Did he go hollow without dying or something. Guess Frampt snores really loud.
It would be nice to arrive at firelink and see the crestfallen guy trying to get rid of Frampt

Can't we just assume any of the starter class bodies were yours?

I mean You started as a bandit or a warrior or a mage. There is a body for every starting class but we never meet an NPC who is a bandit, or a thief.. or anything like that. Unless you consider the forest hunters. I personally think that is their purpose, aside from getting you all the starting gear in a game mechanic sort of way.

But I think its for people who want to role play, "James was a mighty bandit, trying to steal the sunken riches that rumour had were located in New Londo, he tried and died, to the jaws of furious drakes guarding the eastern doors... one day he woke up in the undead asylum, forgetting who he was until he found himself clutching a cold white pendant in a jerky like fist ..."

It is an interesting idea you have and I am not trying to say you are wrong, this is just always what I thought the bodies were for..

I was just speculating, as much as I like my theory I don't mind being wrong. The way it looks, I probably am wrong; every time I reexamine it I find more holes.