Gender in Dark Souls

Introduction

First Things First

This is a blog that examines how gender is portrayed in the popular Action-RPG video game, Dark Souls 1. We will look at how male and female non-player characters are presented differently in this game by examining how enemies, bosses, and merchants are presented as well as analyzing their role in the story. This blog is being written from a Sociological point of view so we will be considering many of the implications of the characterizations in this game as well as consulting the various bits of lore found within this game. We will also be briefly considering the Online Player Versus Player and Cooperative Play features in Dark Souls but will not be analyzing specific interactions between players due to the fact that there are very few ways to directly interact with other players in Dark Souls.

Note: This blog will only be using text and story found WITHIN the game, so any fan theories or characterizations are considered extraneous to this analysis.

Hopefully, this will not ruin the game for anyone who is familiar with Dark Souls, but some things might not look the same after we have analyzed it in terms of Gender. We are starting with the first Dark Souls game since it was the most popular and if time permits, we will extend this analysis to Dark Souls 2.

What is Dark Souls?

Dark Souls is an action role-playing game set in an open world environment that allows the player a great amount of agency in playing the game. The game was developed by FROM SOFTWARE, a video game studio in Japan, so much of the text used for this analysis is translated from Japanese. The player of Dark Souls is presented with an introduction cinematic at the beginning of the game which depicts the historical background of the world the player explores and battles in during the game. Many of the characters presented in this cinematic will appear later in the game in one form or another. The player can then customize their own character to be of any appearance or gender, which even includes a slider for Masculine or Feminine features that is totally separate from the gender selection, making this character creation system quite friendly to the Transgender community. The player is then thrust into the world of Lordran and the action of the game begins. The main action of the game is primarily made up of exploration and melee combat with various types of enemies found throughout the world. There is a lot of design focused on combat with parries, ripostes, and sneak attacks available with a large variety of weapons like swords, axes, and hammers. The general setting of the game is a fantasy pseudo-European world called Lordran where humans have been inflicted with a curse that prevents them from staying dead. This organically integrates the player character returning to life after dying, otherwise known as "respawning", into the game world and provides a story rational for the game mechanics. Dark Souls is renowned for being a difficult video game and much of its gameplay reflects that impression, with death being so common, the subtitle for the PC version of the game is "Prepare to Die"

The analysis presented here is based off of the PC Prepare To Die Edition available on Steam but the game is also available on PlayStation 3 and XBox 360. However, despite the multiple gaming platforms, much of the context, characterization, and depictions in Dark Souls are platform-neutral, meaning that they are the same across all platforms.

Why Do We Care About Gender In Dark Souls?

Representation of gender in digital video games is important because it can help explain some of the prevailing attitudes in gaming culture that surround the issue of gender. Additionally, it can help provide context for the way that gender is represented in video game development studios, where female video game developers are very underrepresented in the industry. By considering and studying the underlying gender dynamics at play in the world of Dark Souls, we can also understand the messages about gender that are being broadcast into our minds through this form of media. By understanding these messages, we can also eventually change them to be more fair and equitable in terms of gender.

Who are You To Dare Analyze This Beloved Game?

I am just a fan of this game and I am also interested in the Sociological implications of media depictions of gender, especially women. I both like and dislike Dark Souls for many, many, many reasons, but I will try to present a fair and balanced analysis of gender in Dark Souls.

Boss Characters

An Explanation of "Bosses" and Their Importance to the Story

One of the most memorable aspects of Dark Souls is the special encounters with non-player characters that are especially potent, which often present a challenge for the player to overcome in order to proceed through the game. The characters are generally referred to as "Boss" characters by players and the Dark Souls fans, since their role in the game generally conforms to the traditional video game boss encountered at the end of a level and/or the game. Examples from another video game would be Bowser from the Super Mario Games, and like Bowser, many of the Bosses in Dark Souls are directly related to the understated plot of the game.

Much of the story of Dark Souls is not presented directly to the player by a cinematic or via a long dialogue with a non-player character, but instead, the story (or "Lore" as it is known among Dark Souls fans) comes from text descriptions attached to items found throughout the game and occasionally via comments made by various characters the player interacts with. So, the importance of the Bosses is clear since the majority of the context of the story is provided to the player via the text attached to items associated with them, as seen in the following image taken directly from the game.

A Katana forged from the Soul of a Boss, the Chaos Witch Queelag

The majority of the Bosses in this game are non-human in one form or another and many tower over the player character during their encounters. The gender of the Bosses encountered in Dark Souls have been collated as shown in the following chart.

Boss Name	Gender
Asylum Demon	None
Bed of Chaos	Female
Bell Gargoyles	None
Black Dragon Kalameet	Male
Capra Demon	None
Ceaseless Discharge	Male
Centipede Demon	None
Chaos Witch Quelaag	Female
Crossbreed Priscilla	Female
*Dark Sun Gwyndolin*	*Male /Female*
Demon Firesage	None
Dragon Slayer Ornstein	Male
Executioner Smough	Male
Four Kings	Male
Gaping Dragon	Male
Gravelord Nito	Male
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder	Male
Iron Golem	None
Knight Artorias	Male
Manus, Father of the Abyss	Male
Moonlight Butterfly	None
Pinwheel	*Multiple*
Sanctuary Guardian	None
Seath the Scaleless	Male
Sif, the Great Wolf	Male
Stray Demon	None
Taurus Demon	None

So, out of the 27 Bosses in this game, only 3 are clearly and implicitly female with two exceptions in the case of Dark Sun Gwyndolin and Pinwheel. The remaining Bosses are largely defined as males either in appearance or in the game's descriptions, or their gender is considered to be none, since many of those are non-human demons with no clearly defined gender. We will start by looking at the female Bosses, then Dark Sun Gwyndolin who is identified as both male and female, and finally Pinwheel, which has multiple genders associated with it.

Bed of Chaos

The Bed of Chaos itself is a large, tree-like demonic monster that is shrouded in flames as tiwers iver the player. The gender of the demon itself is considered to be female since it is the "mother of all demons", and the Bed of Chaos is explicitly both caused by a female character and possessing that same female character, The Witch of Izalith. The Witch of Izalith is presented in the opening cinematic of the game as the only female character, and the Bed of Chaos is noted to be caused by a mistake of the Witch of Izalith and thus, she not only became the Bed of Chaos but also the source of many of the demonic enemies and bosses found within the game.

The Bed of Chaos
http://darksouls.wdfiles.com/local--files/bosses/bed-of-chaos-large.jpg

The Bed of Chaos is Dark Souls' lone "puzzle Boss" where the player does not actively engage the Bed of Chaos in combat like other Bosses but must instead navigate the treacherous terrain that the Boss is located in to find and attack the vulnerable points of the Bed of Chaos. Throughout the encounter, the Bed of Chaos will attack the player with its tree-like limbs or with a fire-based attack while sections of the room's floor fall away as the Bed of Chaos is damaged. The most interesting aspect of the design of this encounter is the actual ease with which the player can eliminate these vulnerable points, once the holes in the floor have been navigated successfully. The three vulnerable points of the Bed of Chaos are each destroyed with a single attack, meaning that the player can defeat this Boss with only three attacks in total, far fewer than any other Boss found in Dark Souls. The fact that the game's primary example of hubris and incompetence is directly linked to its most powerful female character (aside from a female player character) echoes many stereotypes in science and technology regarding women's competence in those fields, where males are culturally perceived to dominate.

The Witch of Izalith
Source http://darksouls.wikidot.com/witch-of-izalith

To be fair to FROM SOFTWARE, they may have chosen to make this character female to play on the cliche of a "mother of monsters" but they also explicitly included the incompetence and failure aspects of the characterization as well, which combined with the indirect nature of the encounter portrays a female character as being a) incompetent, b) a failure because of that incompetence, c) the source for many of the problems that the game world Lordran suffers from, and d) the subtle, indirect challenge of this Boss rather than challenging the player with a straight melee encounter. Thus, the Bed of Chaos is little more than an overt example of the stereotypical perception that females are less competent than males.

Chaos Witch Queelag

It is safe to say that the Chaos Witch Queelag is Dark Souls' most blatantly sexist Boss character, since she is a naked human female torso perched on top of a hideous demonic spider. Queelag is introduced to the player in one of the game's few cinematic cut-scenes, where the game pans up from the demonic spider body to the naked and perfect female torso with her nipples barely covered by her Godiva-like hair, and finally ends by showing the lower half of Queelag's perfect and beautiful human face. The full introduction of Chaos Witch Queelag can be seen in the first 0:37 of this Youtube video.

Chaos Witch Queelag
Source: http://darksouls.wdfiles.com/local--files/bosses/chaos-witch-quelaag-large.jpg

In the story or lore of Dark Souls, the Chaos Witch Queelag is the daughter of The Witch of Izalith, the aforementioned Bed of Chaos. Queelag's current appearance is due to the same act of incompetence that formed the Bed of Chaos, so she provides yet another example of the "female incompetence" stereotype. While Queelag herself never speaks to the player, after her defeat, the player can meet her sister, a friendly character only referred to as Queelag's Sister or "The Fair Lady", who has a similar appearance to Queelag but never attacks the player at all. A full analysis of Queelag's Sister will be addressed in a later post. She is mentioned here to present a contrast for Queelag, as Queelag's Sister is never presented in an overtly sexualized way by the game, unlike Queelag. Instead, Queelag's Sister is kind, self-sacrificing, and very polite to the player, even though she mistakes them for Queelag and constantly refers to her as such. So, Queelag is presented as aggressive to the player yet kind to her sister, which could speak to the stereotypical presentation of feminists in modern culture, where feminists are characterized as being violently opposed to males yet very supportive of females. Of course, this analysis of Chaos Witch Queelag is based on the idea that the player (or at least the player's character) is male, and given the perceived dominance of males in gaming culture, this is probably a safe assumption to make about FROM SOFTWARE's intentions regarding Queelag, the juxtaposition of a positive trait and negative trait, which would make male gamers both drawn to and repulsed by Queelag.

The actual encounter with Queelag is one that is typical of Dark Souls, as she moves around the room either directly attacking the player with a flaming sword or by belching lava out of her spider body. Queelag is not an especially challenging Boss encounter for the the point in the game when the player encounters her, so we must focus on her physical appearance, as FROM SOFTWARE forces us to. Queelag's primary female characteristics, her genitals have been replaced with a horrific and grotesque spider body, while her breasts and face are left unaltered in any way. The juxtaposition of the beautiful with the grotesque must have been the key design impetus behind the creation of Queelag but it clearly shows the male fascination with female breasts and physical appearance while also reflecting the stereotypical male revulsion with anything associated with the vagina including menstruation, which could correlate with Queelag's attack where her spider body (again, located where her vagina should be) spews forth damaging red lava which damages the player.

For Next time: Boss Continued (Crossbreed Priscilla, Dark Sun Gwyndolin, and Pinwheel)

Bosses Continued

Crossbreed Priscilla

Crossbreed Priscilla is a unique boss in Dark Souls due to the fact that she exists in an entirely optional area that most players will miss on their first play-through, so she is somewhat hidden in the game. The player has to return to the starting area of the game to retrieve an item and then return to a mid-game area to access the Painted World of Ariamis where Crossbreed Priscilla is trapped. Crossbreed Priscilla is described in the game as being an abomination and is the result of a Dragon breeding with something else, probably one of the god characters in the game given her general size.

Source: http://darksouls.wdfiles.com/local--files/bosses/crossbreed-priscilla-large.jpg

Once the player has managed to complete the Painted World of Ariamis, which is filled with very aggressive and powerful enemies, they encounter Crossbreed Priscilla in a snowy arena. Immediately, the player will notice something about Crossbreed Priscilla, namely that she doesn't move to attack the player like every other boss in the game. She instead will talk with the player and urge them to leave the Painted World, which she describes as "this land is peaceful, its inhabitants kind..." However, if the player chooses to, they can engage Crossbreed Priscilla in battle, she will become invisible and strike the player while they cannot see her. The player is able to notice her footprints in the snow, which allows the player to attack her and break her invisibility. Even after she is visible again, Crossbreed Priscilla is a very difficult boss and can easily defeat the player in a few attacks.

The interesting facet of Crossbreed Priscilla's characterization is her passive reaction to the player's presence, which clearly shows that she is a much kinder character than the other bosses in the game. However, this passivity or submissiveness is a quality that is a stereotype associated with femininity and since Crossbreed Priscilla is one of the few female bosses in Dark Souls, she is another example of how Dark Souls presents female characters in a unfavorable manner. If Crossbreed Priscilla were immediately aggressive, her characterization would be counter to the stereotypical presentation of women. However, as she is presented in Dark Souls, she is just an example of female submission to male dominance.

Dark Sun Gwyndolin

Dark Sun Gwyndolin is a another optional boss like Crossbreed Priscilla, but Dark Sun Gwyndolin is much more important to the overall plot of Dark Souls. Dark Sun Gwyndolin is described as being a god and thus male but he has a distinctly feminine appearance, voice, and name perhaps due to Gwyndolin's association with the moon, magic and illusions. The game itself consistently refers to Gwyndolin with male pronouns and the voice actor for the character is in fact male, while the way the character is voiced is somewhat androgynous as is the character's actual in-game appearance which appears to include flowing white robes and even breasts.

Source: http://darksouls.wdfiles.com/local--files/npcs/dark-sun-gwyndolin-large.jpg

Before the encounter with Gwyndolin, the player is initially warned away from the encounter by a voiceover from Gwyndolin. However, the player can ignore this warning and enter the area that Gwyndolin guards, the tomb of his father Gwyn, an important figure in Lordran's history. Throughout the encounter, the player must constantly chase Gywndolin down a long, seemingly endless hallway while Gwyndolin hurls powerful magical blasts or arrows at the player. If the player manages to close the distance and physically engage Gywndolin, he will teleport away from the player, restarting the chase.

Gwyndolin is strongly associated with the moon, magic, and illusions, concepts that are all distinctly non-physical, unlike the traditional swordplay displayed by other bosses. Additionally, by being associated with the moon, which is traditionally associated with femininity and mensuration, Gwyndolin's exact gender is further blurred. Gwyndolin's role in the story of the game is one of either an optional Boss encounter that the player has to actively seek out or as the leader of a group that punishes players who have "sinned" in the world by attacking NPCs or betraying other groups. It is important to note that this group, or Covenant as it is called in the game, allows the player to join and assist in punishing other players who have "sinned" in the game. Additionally, Gwyndolin is responsible for the sunny appearance of Anor Londo, the city of the gods, as well as all of the enemies that maintain a watch over the city. Gwyndolin is also responsible for the illusion of his sister, Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight, which is a key part of the main story of Dark Souls since the player has to retrieve a relic, called the Lordvessel from Gwynevere to complete the game. There is also another Covenant that centers around Gwynevere which involves protecting and healing other players in cooperative online play. So, Dark Sun Gwyndolin not only contributes to the main plot, which drives the player's actions throughout the game, but is also behind two Covenants that are associated with positive traits, which is unusual for such a gender-ambiguous character in a video game.

The theme of justice that surrounds Gwyndolin is also interesting, given the ambiguous nature of his gender as well as his skill at illusions, which would be very effective at obfuscating guilt. Perhaps this duality of purpose, where Gwyndolin is devoted to the contradictory ideas of illusions and justice, is intentional on FROM SOFTWARE's part. This duality of extreme ideas does echo the rather ambiguous gender of Gwyndolin and would make players more likely to be generally unsettled by this boss.

Pinwheel

The Pinwheel boss is another magic-based character that presents a challenge to the player's progress through Dark Souls' main story. Pinwheel is found deep underground, in an area that is nestled in between two areas that are populated exclusively with skeleton enemies. In Pinwheel's boss arena, there are numerous stacks of books which hint at Pinwheel's scholarly nature and his magical prowess. From the ceiling of this room, there are human skeletons suspended by their wrists, which in addition to the adjacent areas, tells the player that Pinwheel is a necromancer of some power. Pinwheel itself is a black robed figure that has three sets of arms and hides its appearance behind three masks that seem to communicate with each other in some way. The player can later receive or purchase these masks to discover that they are called the Mask of the Father, the Mask of the Mother, and the Mask of the Child. So, Pinwheel is a combination of three individuals, which makes sense given the number of arms and masks, so it is at least in part, identified as being female (based on the Mother, the Child's gender is ambiguous).

Pinwheel is also a magic-based boss that only attacks with magical blasts, can create illusory clones of itself, and can even disappear from sight. By examining the placement of the Masks on Pinwheel, we can also discover some interesting factors behind the character. In the following picture, the Masks are, from top to bottom, the Child, the Mother, and the Father, which could mean that the Father part of Pinwheel is supporting the other two parts due to his strength.

Source: http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121215003546/darksouls/images/9/9d/Pinwheel.jpg

As a boss encounter, many players will find Pinwheel to be fairly easy to defeat via physical attacks, since its only defense is to disappear when struck. Pinwheel also has lower health than other bosses in the game, and by the time the player has reached it, they should be powerful enough to defeat Pinwheel without too much difficulty. In the story of Dark Souls, Pinwheel exists as a leech that is drawing power from one of the mythical figures in Lordran's history, a character named Gravelord Nito. Even after the player has defeated Pinwheel, the boss appears again in duplicate forms outside of Gravelord Nito's tomb, which makes sense given the symbiotic relationship between the two necromancers (Nito's a necromancer, in case the Gravelord part wasn't clear enough).

The fact that the Child is the top mask hints that Pinwheel is not completely male or female, since the Child's gender is left undefined in the game and the Mask itself appears to display the face of a youth with curly hair whose gender is unclear. The Masks themselves provide different descriptions of the aspects of Pinwheel as well as providing benefits to the player once worn. These descriptions and benefits reflect the traditional definitions of gender, where males are considered to be braver and stronger than females. The Mask of the Father describes him as being valiant and when worn, it increases the player's ability to wear heavier armor and wield heavier weapons. In contrast, the Mask of the Mother who is described as being kindly, increases the player's health,which allows them to take more damage. The Mask of the Child describes the Child as being naive, and the benefit it provides allows the player to run and fight for longer periods without having to rest. The Mask of the Father clearly reinforces the stereotype that masculinity equals strength while the Mask of the Mother highlights the association of femininity with life and healthiness. The Mask of the Child, being gender-neutral, displays a different type of stereotype, namely that children are full of energy.

Pinwheel can be seen to rejecting traditional gender roles in our male-dominant society since it is hiding its true physical appearance behind the Masks of both genders as well as having a gender-neutral Mask being placed symbolically higher than the gendered Masks. However, the symbiotic relationship between Pinwheel and Nito is reflective of the traditional gender relationship where the female is dependent upon the male for safety and protection, as Pinwheel (part female) is dependent upon Nito's (male) power for survival in Lordran. The power leeching aspect of Pinwheel also displays some of the stereotypes and prejudice associated with traditional gender roles, where a female must steal power from a male for it to be considered legitimate rather than earning it for herself. This might not be a perfect comparison in Pinwheel's case due to its composite nature, but it is still very telling of the stereotypes associated with gender that permeate our culture on many levels.