Character Speculation part I: Dark Sun Gwyndolin

Part one: Dark Sun Gwyndolin

It is pretty much established by now that Gwyndolin is something of a villain in Dark Souls, wishing to prolong the Flame not just to keep the gods in control, but to make himself the dominant god. That's all right and good, but I've looked more into Gwyndolin and picked up on a few things.

1. He hides behind the illusion of Gwynevere for a few reasons, the first being that the Princess of Sunlight would be easier to trust than the Dark Sun. I know I'd rather do what Gwynevere asks as opposed to Gwyndolin. He is also ashamed of his frail and grotesque appearance. This is supported by the fact that there are no statues of him anywhere, and the spot where his statue is meant to be is strangely empty.

2. He seems to be prolonging the Flame out of jealousy and spite. Gwyn raised him as a daughter because he was born the god of the moon, and the moon is ascociated with females. This would have brought ridicule from other gods and the holders of the Lord Souls. He is not only going to become dominant if the Chosen Undead throws themselves onto the Flame, but he will have had vengeance wreaked on everyone who mocked him. Or something.

3. Something else I noticed (and I really hope I'm right about this) is that Gwyndolin has serpents for legs. Now normally I would just write that off as trying to make a weak individual seem more threatening (as if the one-shot magic wasn't enough), but I thought back to the serpent rings, and how that throughout Dark Souls, serpents are symbolic with humans. So that got me thinking: Is Gwyndolin designed this way, with his serpents below him, to symbolize his superiority and/or dominance over humans?

Just some thoughts. I have more thought on other characters, if anyone would like to hear. Also, tell me what you think of the thoughts posted here. Also also, tell me if I posted this in the right section. I've posted in three other locations and they all told me to go to another board without specifying which one.

For the glory of ruining other people's gaming experience Gravelord Nito,
King-Of-Twilight

He has serpent legs alright. I've stated that this could also be a reason he was raised as a girl as dresses would hide that better

"The serpent is an imperfect dragon and symbol of the Undead."

Maybe Gwyndolin is an imperfect 'god'? His catalyst says he's a legitimate god though, so maybe not.

I had a weird experience cooping against Gwyndolin last night and am curious if anyone else has experienced this.

I was a sunbro. Host approaches Gwyndolin's fog gate, and as is my wont I also start spamming the x button right next to him so I can go through the fog ASAP after the host. Some of you may already know that the first summon to follow a host after Gwyndolin gets their own, separate cutscene as well (in other words, the host gets a long one, then summon gets a short one of them also entering the fog). Well, this time I as the summon somehow got the first longer cutscene, the one where Gwyndolin gets all upset and lectures you. However, the dialogue seemed unfamiliar and it wasn't just because I wasn't a DMB. And then after a slight pause I got the second cutscene as well, showing me re-entering the same fog. Then the fight proceeded normally.

Has anyone encountered this, and is it intended rather than a bug? The fact that he seemed to give me a whole different lecture was quite odd.

The different lecture is interesting. I know there's other cutscenes that can be wonky so my assumption is that the game had a minor bug in which it registered your fog attempt first and went with it. I've personally had fun with people by triggering their Vamos cutscene for them so phantoms can influence cutscenes for sure.

I always loved the "Man-Behind-The-Curtain" aspect to Gwyndolin. He's definitely pulling the strings. But why hide behind a fog gate? Because he's disfigured/snake-legged? And just why the heck does he have snakes for legs but Gwynevere apparently is a gorgeous female?

What's up with Gwyn's children?

Inbreeding

(half serious)

Perhaps Gwyndolin is the product of Gwyn making relations with Medusa? I jest.

Serpents, being symbolic of the Undead, are a very interesting attribute to the Dark Sun god. Serpents are also called "imperfect dragons." Maybe Seath had some hand in Gwyndolin's conception? Maybe Gwyn isn't the real father, and Gwyndolin is the offspring of his goddess(?) mother and Seath's twisted experimentation. Or maybe it was intentional? This is merely my own speculation and could be entirely false, but perhaps the wife/lover of Gwyn was unfaithful to him, and thus Gwyndolin came about.

In studying facial features, Gwyndolin and Priscilla look kinda similar to me...