Dark Souls 3 Lore: The Identity of the Furtive Pygmy 

I wouldn't take anything from the Painted World seriously. Not after being told that it's a peaceful place.

I dont think that the furtive pygmy is anyone note worthy. In other words he/she is just a random ass hollow or something. That's why the furtive pygmy is "so easily forgotten" according to the intro. Who they are isn't important. It's more so what they did and what they represent. From that prospective, Velka couldn't be the furtive pygmy. Velka is the Goddess of Sin. That's an important ass person that nobody is going to forget. I do somewhat agree with you on your point on Manus. He seems more like the Dark Lord gone wrong than the actual furtive pygmy. Anyone else agree with me? I have always found this topic fun to speculate.

Watching this after the DLC came out and all "We find no sign of the painted world in DS3" Boy howdy, did that change

I'm no lore master. But didn't the pygmy basically just separate the dark soul into many pieces to create man, gave the rest to the pygmy lords to protect, became hollow because he was all souled out (hehe), then went off and died somewhere? And that's basically it. maybe he didn't have any other agenda, plan or purpose, like the other lords. He remained forgotten and secret. He created man, and did his part. he didn't need to remain a figure head or something to worship. it was in the hands of his creations. maybe he was just silent, and did what he needed to do. just like his descendant, our character(s) who we play. Is there any evidence that Kaathe is being legit and actually doing the pygmy's duties? or he could just be manipulating man for his own agenda.

I have found something. There is an official Dark Souls board game (overseed by Bandai Namco). Recently a rulebook was released. In it there is a short description of the story and there is a sentence about the Furtive Pygmy: "It is in this miserable state that the world has now existed for a thousand years and more, always on the brink of the Age of Dark-despite the best efforts of the agents of the fourth Lord, the Furtive Pygmy." Remember, it's official so we can be almost sure it refers to the original story.

What makes you think Kaathe is trustworthy? "Everyone's been lying to you but you can trust me completely. I've definitely not caused the destruction of civilisations. Now go fulfil the destiny of your ancestor you totally awesome undead!"

obviously solaire is the furtive pygmy, duh.

I still really wanna know more about the portrait room. Nashandra and Gwynevere in the same room = mind blown

I think Gwyn was human/pigmy just like us before finding the soul. Same with the witch and Nito. Its why Gwynn was able to still hollow, and other Lords such as the Nameless king. They are human at the core and hold part of the dark soul too since it was given to ALL mankind. All the souls hold immense power and can increase the size of the holders depending on the concentration within them. We arent as large because the dark soul is divided between all human kind, so we hold less concentration of it. You see Ornstein or Smough grow when absorbing the other one's soul, adding onto what they had already gotten from Gwynn. Guys like the silver and black knights are larger than us but not as big as lords because Gwynn obviously isnt going to give each Knight a huge chunk, a portion is divided up between them all resulting in a much minor size change. In the opening scene you see the witch surrounded by her daughters and she appears much larger than them because she is already in possession of the soul and is just then presenting it to her daughters. Quelanna is back to her original size when we see her because she gave up her part of the soul and fled. Sif was so large in DS1 because Artorias probably imparted part of his to him because he wanted his partner to be as strong as possible or did it when giving him the shield as more protection. In DS3 the Abyss Watchers are larger than us but smaller than lords because they took what was given to Sif and divided it up between all them, aka the wolf blood, and is why Sif or his dead body is much smaller in DS3. Havel, and/or his knights, same size as us, stripped of what Gwynn gave him when they locked him up or he never accepted it in the first place due to his distrust in some of the things Gwynn was doing such as allowing Seathe into the fold. TLDR all the races began as human/pigmy but due to how each soul was divided up and created the size disparities, the distinction of "races" was also made even though there really arent different races (at least pertaining to those that found the 4 souls), just different concentrations within those of the varying "factions" based on how the founder gave them out

Stuttering Kaath, "Dark Lo.. Lord"

Isn't the Furtive Pigmy supposed to have hidden from the other lords? Being the mother of one's children doesn't seem like much of hiding to me...

"Humanity" in dark souls are pieces of the Dark Soul, spread across all of humanity. So Manus' soul being a lump of humanity means it is a large portion of the dark soul.

I can't see Velka being the furtive pygmy. The item description for the Book of the Guilty paints Velka as an ally to the gods: "The Goddess of Sin Velka oversees this list of the guilty, who have disrespected the Gods or their covenants, and shall one day face the wrath of the Blades of the Darkmoon." Why would Velka keep the book listing those who have opposed the gods if she was ultimately opposed to them herself?

You didn't convince me that Manus can't be the pigmy, but I'll continue watching to see if Velka fits.

Okay. So. You've got some problems here. To start - and this is a problem for most people, so don't feel bad - you're reading an awful lot into the literal meaning of words in a translation. That dramatically elevates the chance that you're wrong. Setting that aside, you've got the wrong definition of "rogue" here. You're looking at a specific definition of the word as a noun, but that's not how it's being used in the phrase "rogue deity." Here it's being used as an adjective, describing the character of the deity - she is a rogue deity, meaning outlaw or outside of an accepted orthodoxy. It does not mean that her character class was thief. Regardless of whether it's a prison or a safe haven, Velka clearly and demonstrably DID NOT CREATE the Painted World of Ariamis. Ariamis did. You're making a considerable assumption here that, again, a lot of other people have made, but needs to be addressed. You assume that whatever alternative orthodoxy it is that Velka defends (you cannot have sin without orthodoxy, by definition) is based upon some sort of primacy of nature over the artifice of the gods. We don't really know that. Probably most important to note, however, is the fact that you're arguing against Occam's Razor. Manus as the pygmy is the obvious conclusion from a number of angles. He shows up in the same game where we kill all three of the other holders of the great souls and the connection between Kaathe's language and his origins seem pretty concrete. After all, why would the denizens of Oolacile have bothered to dig up such a creature (because they did - another speculation that you're taking as fact is the notion that the Abyss is somehow a natural response to the state of the world, which we definitely have some indication is not the case - specifically, the fact that the citizens of Oolacile are known to have tortured Manus to madness, which would tend to imply that the Abyss wasn't a thing until they goaded it into existence) if he wasn't extremely significant? The indication that Manus is supposed to be the Pygmy is fairly obvious, while your conjecture is...less so, which means that you're suggesting that the writers in this franchise were trying to deliberately mislead people into believing something other than what they considered to be canonical truth for their fictional universe. Why? What possible purpose would they find in obscuring something that, on the whole, really isn't even that important to the story anyway? So yeah - not the worst argument ever, but there's some obvious ground that you need to shore up here and...I mean, this isn't the hill that I would choose to die on, since you're not arguing from an identifiable discrepancy in evidence (i.e. here is a thing that is not explained by the commonly accepted theory), which is always a weaker position to start from in the first place.

you've clearly put a lot of thought into this and it was really well put together. Keep up the great content my friend!

Here, have some lore. Ever given a thought to how Yorshka finds it perfectly normal that a "Dragon or perhaps a Crow" stands before her, fully human (or hollow) in shape and form, so much so that it is her first guess at what you might be if you say you can fly. Considering she is quite sheltered and "knows little of this world", it is reasonable to conclude that this accurately describes human formed creatures she has previously encountered. Taking the shocked and humbled reaction she gives when you state you can not fly into consideration, it is reasonable to conclude possessing the ability to fly is the normal state. Also, note how climbing and less fantastical alternatives are not even given mentioned, magic or other fantastical methods are not either for that mater. Only what can be assumed to be a transformation ( or possessing the abilities / qualities of) into one of those two specific creatures. So we can conclude that Yorshka knows and has met ( or at the very least knows of ) at least one of each of the following: 1. A humanoid that for all intents looks human but can transform into a flying dragon. 2. A humanoid that for all intents looks human but can transform into a flying crow. As for the identity these. We know of several dragon/humanoid shape-shifters in the "Path of the Dragon", but none of these can fly. There is speculations about in regards to that perhaps the current "King of the Storm" is not the original "Stormdrake" spoken of in the item descriptions but a transformed Ornstein. You've even done a video on this topic. Only creature we know of that could possibly fit the description of being human/humanoid, and possibly being a shape-shifter is Velka.

Very good Points in this Theory. I just have one Headscratcher: If Velka is the Pygmy she is the entity of the Dark, as oposed to Gwyn and co. beeing the Gods of Fire, right? The Pardoner in Dark Souls 1 (forgot his name) is a Priest of Velka, as evidenced by the Items of him we find in the Painted World. If you are of the Way of White (Gwyns Religion) he will Greet you as a friend, if you arent he will not. So why does a Priest of the Dark (so to speak) specificaly call an adherent of Fire a Friend? I think this points more or less towards Velka beeing at least loosly on good terms with Gwyn and his Way of White, something we know the Pygmy was not. I dont want to bore Holes into your Theories, its really solid, it was just something that crossed my Mind.

Dude, a friend of mine told me of your channel. I'm impressed with your analysis of this vid and I am looking forward to more videos

Amazing video. Puts everything in perspective!!! Great work, and very enjoyable

Y'know, I actually like this theory. I think the concept of Velka, her reputation, and finally the reputation of the Pygmy line up quite nicely

Thanks for the video and the interesting theory! I love the picture of Velka as a protector of the cast-offs and the freaks. I think of her as a sort of patron for humanity (sinners that we are), subtly helping them and undermining the gods. Something you mentioned actually made a connection with a question I've had for a long time - why was the Peculiar Doll in the Chosen Undead's cell at the Asylum? The fact that it's a CROW that takes us to Lordran seems very significant, and a strong suggestion of Velka's influence. It makes total sense, then, that Velka would use that same influence to put the doll in a place associated with the Chosen Undead. After all, what does the doll do? Permit entrance to a place where we can meet a creature in possession of a power that terrifies the gods. I have trouble with linking Velka to the Pygmy, though. In particular, I think a few of the significant word connections are pretty tenuous. The usage of "rogue" in the Vow of Silence description almost certainly refers to a deviation from the status quo (as in "going rogue"), rather than furtive criminal action. (If they wanted to describe Velka as guilty person, they'd have used "rogue" as a noun, not an adjective). Her support for humanity would certainly be enough to make her a rogue deity. Also, "forsaken" isn't the same as "forgotten." Something that's forsaken is abandoned on purpose, like Anor Londo. You don't have to forget something to forsake it. And this is just a personal thing, but I don't really want the Pygmy to still be around. Anonymity is in the nature of unformed humanity - of the Pygmy's Dark Soul. But he broke it up and left it to humans to shape with souls. He let it become something that he couldn't make himself. After that, his job was done and he could go to his rest.

Great lore video. I watched a lot of lore videos, but somehow felt that something is missing. Now with your story about Velka it all kinda came together for me, so thx!

Good video and good solid theories. I never imagined the painting guardians as protectors before. Also enjoyed your thoughts on Frampt and Kaathe never really thought about why Kaathe was initially so difficult to find, your ideas make a lot of sense.Keep up the good work

i want the painted world to return.

IMO you dismissed Manus too quickly. His soul might say "his humanity", but you must'n forget, that the Dark Soul might just be split up completely amongst all humans, which leaves Manus/Possible-Pygmy with his own share of the Dark Soul. It might have been a bigger share, considering his corruption/going wild is much more significant in comparison to other corrupted/abyssal beings. He might just have been a human going apeshit. What if the pygmy is just a faceless being, because the Dark Soul is meant to be spread not kept, because a single holder would just be hunted down by the gods? I think, it doesn't really matter who the furtive pygmy actually is or was, as the humans in the games are never ever presented by one powerful being, often not being too powerful themselves (if you dismiss your Velka theory), but more being a race that is inheritently powerful when aquiring humanity and souls, thus one completely unknown suddenly becomes the Dark Lord. This is also represented in the nameless/faceless Chosen Undead, Next Monarch or Chosen Ash as the playables, or in a furtive pygmy as the Ancestor, in comparison to the Deities Gwyn, Gwynevere, the First Born or even Nito and the Witch which represent their unique Lord Souls. Nonetheless Velka is persecuting the Gods for the First Sin which probably is the act of linking the First Flame. But she might also just use everyone for her own goals: The Painting Guardians protect her (maybe not?) world, her weapons/set, the Ember, Priscilla and the Life Hunt abilities. While she probably schemed against the Gods, it doesn't necessarily make her human or the leader of the humans, as she might also have been at Anor Londo at some point, maybe even being Gwyn's wife. I personally believe, she just took the opportunity to manipulate humans (and other beings) to bring about her own justice. I don't really see her being the furtive pygmy. While "ancestor" doesn't necessarily refers to a male, there would somewhere be a more direct hint at the pygmy being a male or female if it really mattered. Manus probably was just a powerful human, who went mad when collecting humanity and souls. Velka probably was part of the Pantheon until the Gods went for prolonging the Age of Fire. And Kaathe just wants to bring the Age of Dark, maybe because the Cycle will repeat, starting with an Age of Ancients Dragons who are simply matured serpents. They all have their own goals and the humans are simply pawns in their game of thro... ehem, ages ;)

Another brilliant vid dude, keep it up!

Wow love this stuff first video I've watched of you and it feels so nicely done like a documentary to dark souls

how can you kill priscila dont you have a souls? :V

Feeling sick, so I'm binging Dark Souls lore videos till I get better.

You, sir, blew my mind. Great storytelling and amazing insight, I love your take on Velka. Thank you.

Just stumbled upon your lore videos not long ago (been a big Souls fan since 2011). Loving them all. Just wanted to mention that Priscilla's dagger is occult too. Like the idea of Velka though, it's different and you backed it better than I saw on someone's reddit post once. Nice videos, new sub right here 👍

Here I was saying that this is not true, Manus is but then after watching the video somehow you convince me well done :-0

I wish from software would release a lore book or something that would verify all these claims. I love all your videos dude, but these are all theories none the less. I always figured the Furtive Pygmy was just someone who resided in humanity, an individual, small, unnoticeable among the most powerful, a balance of power of sorts that humanity when the lords do not uphold their promise to link the fire every cycle. A successor of the Furtive Pygmy from what my best guess is always the player, linking the fire. You are always downplayed by NPCs while talking to them, That you are just another poor hollow, not destined and will never achieve greatness doomed like the rest. This is also a classic Eastern/Japanese story telling. heroes are not born, but forged and grow slowly into said greatness. The hero always starts small, forgettable like the Furtive Pygmy is described in said name. Even though Gywn linked the fire. It was up to a descendent of the Pygmy to link the fire again so the cycle will continue when all else fails. Because the Pygmy is humanity in general, anyone who is 'human' is the Pygmy. Even if Velka is the definitive Furtive Pygmy she gave birth to humanity, that still implies all of humanity is a descendent. lel that is just my shit OP tho from playing the games, I hate its vagueness..

Even after like 4 years I still love these lore videos lol

I'm surprised I've only found your channel now, being the Souls lore fan I am. This is some quality content.

Hey Ashen, do you want this lump of gold? "A lump? Pffft, piss off fam." ...It's an extraordinary lump. "I SAID PFFFT!"

So, what's the lore on the backwards flying birds?

i had so much fun working on this theory with you

Amazing-- fantastic video. Very thorough. Beautiful~ I can't WAIT to see Velka and find out how much of this is true!

It's certainly an interesting theroy! One I've been tossing around the more I look into Velka, purging stones, and bite rings is that Velka may not exist at all but may instead represent humanity. I think that's why the creation of bite rings are forbidden and why the other gods fear "velka". We know they also fear humanity and the dark age, and that purging stones are bits of human who are used to absorb or displace curses. I think Velka statues are made up of purging stones, ie human corpses, created by a church body somewhere, and that the idea of a goddess who doles out punishment is their invention, something to help them control the undead. I thought of this initially because of Velka's title as the goddess of sin and how the concept of sin in many religious organizations is used to keep people from doing bad deeds. why isn't Velka the goddess of justice or punishment? The title instead makes her sound like a sinner. This is part of a larger discussion of faith, lies, and religion in the world of dark souls. So tldr; I think Velka is a lie, but the way people feel about her is real in Dark Souls.

The pygmy split his soul to create humanity, so it makes sense that Manus only has a lump.

This lore speculation was pretty spot on. After the release of DLC, it was confirmed throughout Ariamis that the painted world is a sanctuary for the forlorn.

whoa, this is great, i had such a revelation, this has rocked my interpretation of Velka and the painted world, subbed

Hmm, it may not be much but heres my humble opinion, i remember that when i was studying graphic design i had a class in semiotics, and as you may know or not, semiotic is the study of signs, symbols and their interpretations. I've been i thinking that the furtive pymgpy is more of a semiotic symbol representing the human race as we know it today, along with other animals we are the more complex, yet the most evil being on this planet, we are greedy, arrogant, selfish and just thinking in our self, stepping on other species just because we feel superior and even attack our own species by creating wars, because of difference ideologies, for example religions. Thats (in my opinion)what the age of dark ,the age of man is all about, an age without superior beings ruling over us and keeping the illusion of the perfect world for us, i think that by accepting the dark is allowing the world bloom as we know it today (kind of fucked up, buts thats subjetive), we humans the rulers and those superior beings just memories of the past, thats why i think the dark pine resin dropped from hollow humans is... well dark, is the mere representation of a human being, maybe thats what Mr. Miyazaki tried to interpret, a parody of we humans and our nature in this world. But again thats just me ^^

just subbed I've only watched 5 of your bids (in full btw) and you have me hooked keep it up oh great sir!!!

This is one of the first theory videos to actually look into dialog relating to the Furtive Pygmy. And I must say that I have to agree with your points, everything fits all too well when looking at the lore as a whole. Nice job.

OH MAN that audio clip around 19:00 sounded like it was basically connected everything you said before that and made it make sense to me i was like WOW im pretty sure your spot on with this theory now.

pygmy =/= man. pygmies-> man because of humanity, which is fragmented dark soul. Father of the Abyss, could mean first of the dark "lord". Kaathe's mission is to make a dark lord but failed. why? because he wishes to make the dark soul whole again. "make londor whole again" is said at the end of DS3 can mean many things such as piece together the dark soul. or simply make the 4 lord souls into 1, which was the original goal from DS1. my take is that the furtive pygmy is a hollow, of course all of the creatures then were hollows, that was meant to be the player. it would sort of give it a cycle vibe to it. "chosen undead" etc... how you always come back to go on a mission to revive/kill the fire. so to look at it this way, your first run through in life is being the furtive pygmy then you became the chosen undead, DS1, then so on and so forth till DS3, unkindled. a bit far fetched but its kind of a recurring theme in DS series. im not saying necessarily that it is the same person/entity. but im saying that that timeline couldve been a game in which solely depended on you the player and what you did. except you had no choice but to split your lord soul and turn it into humanity.

That's such a big revelation ! I love that theory a lot ! Thank you ! Velka is by far my favorite dark souls god and I really want to meet her in the DLC. Do you think she is Gwyn's wife btw ? And Priscilla's mother ? Which would explain why Gwyndolyn and Yorshka are (step)siblings. Here is my theory regarding Velka. Her crow people are the angels that visited Gertrude. There are some "clues" to it.

Excellent video, m8

Thank you for all your work thus far. I play your videos on a second monitor as I play DS. And I think most of your theories are pretty interesting to consider! Can you make a video about the dark wraiths, and their connection to velka, and what their role in the story has been. I dont think anyone has gone in depth about them and clearly they play an important role in the plot.

Mind=blown

The last clip of the video got me thinking about the one topic again. What does the Knight of Berenike do in the Painted World? Is he there to protect Priscilla or is he just one of the lost souls that seeked asylum in the Painted World. Nevertheless he shows that Tarkus was not the only one that made it through Sens like the Crestfallen Merchant implies but he and the Darkmoon Blade Berenike soldier must also have made it through. Do you have any clue about him?

Hey Jake, loved the video and I'm convinced! Going with the trend that I seem to see with a few others here: Velka being the furtive Pigmy seems to make the chaos witch theory less relevant, none the less, I really like that theory and you made some excellent points in there. Back to the opening cinematic of DS1 where the narrator says how the pigmy is so easily forgotten, how ironic would it be that all have forgotten about the Pygmy and their identity while she was actually prominent and in your face through the entire series, seems fitting in the dark souls universe! Also I really like how you compared the abyss to a force of nature, I completely agree. An unrelenting force, possible to manipulate and contain (like the abyss watchers did) but never fully control. Great job!

An entertaining video and an interesting proposal, thank you for uploading these videos and I hope you continue in the future, as I'm a fan of what you do here. I would point out that the principle fact we have of the Pygmy is, as you mentioned, "So easily forgotten." I do not believe we can consider Velka to be in any real way 'forgotten' at the time of the Chosen Undead's exodus from the Asylum, not the least of which is a fairly strong church in Carim. I agree wholeheartedly that Velka is intrinsically linked to humanity, perhaps even the source of it by proxy, but by no means should we conclude that she is the one who was "forgotten" so much as as she is acting out of "wrath", "vengeance" and "retribution" for her forgotten Pygmy, so easily replaced by the 'derivative' Allfather Lloyd. What better kindling for the First Flame than the Dark Lord, an example of one 'replete with humanity'? I believe Yuria said it best: "For What Lord Taketh No Spouse?" I think it far more likely that Velka is a vengeful associate or ally of the Pygmy who was "so easily forgotten". When we find Gwyn in the kiln, he stands beside a coiled sword embedded within undead ashes, as with all other 'bonefires', yet that Undead Ash must predate the outbreak of undeath seen in Baldur or Astora. With Kaathe's obvious disappointment in the 'Dark Lords' prior, stating that "they failed him" and "saw not the truth", implies a previous Dark Lord who did not desire the Dark Age that Kaathe sought and was willing to fade into obscurity rather than end the peace his 'descendants' now enjoyed to bring an age of fresh strife. The Pygmy would have been present during the earliest, darkest days in order to retrieve his scrap of a Lord soul and nurture it, and perhaps the Pygmy gazed upon the flame humanity lived under in peace and thought that it was better for humanity to hold on to their 'rapport' with the flame. Final note: Our ceremony to become a Lord of Hollows demonstrates the union of Dark to achieve the usurpation of the flame, thus giving us fair reason to suspect allegorical precedent of a Dark Lord being espoused. Thanks again for the upload, and I hope to see more from you.

What about the occult club in havel's chest?

Ashen Hollow Video: X "Identity of" Video: X Velka.....: X ...every time man...every time..

You've convinced me man i wasnt really seeing or understanding clearly intill towards the end then i got a couple of moments like WOW that fits perfectly in my head i believe this is all canon if you wanted to know my opinion the creators were hiding this one really well

Fantastic job

Dude you need to forget about velka, you use her to fit every theory...

You deserve more views.

Always thought it was the Immortal Patches,

You know, whether or not I agree with your theories I've loved that you're coming at what seem to be the larger "widely held" opinions about the storyline, and bringing some really thought-provoking (at the least) evidence to back it up. Unsure if it's been mentioned, but Alsanna states her 'father' was once a human, which could lend credence to him not having been the Pygmy (hypothetically, a member of the gods' species and not a human).

the furtive pygmy is supposed to be in all men, first released from manus when you kill him in the past.

Manus cannot be the pygmy, he is or was a human. Humans did not exist at the time the first flame was found. So whoever the Furtive pygmy is, it must be a giant or "lord" like the gods or whatever race the silver knights are. Manus is just a very ancient human, one of the first most likely. The dark was strong in him because it had not yet been split between an overly large group of humans. If the Pygmy created mankind, it could even be All father Lloyd.

Hiya Ashen Hollow! As always, props for a very well put-together and thought out vid. While i don't agree with this theory, i very much enjoyed watching. As a counter argument, i think you glossed over a few very important points with regards to the DS1 DLC, or the chosen undeads timetravel back to old Oolacile. Listening to Marvelous Chester's dialog we learn that the people unearthed the grave of primeval man (meaning the first man, or the original) and we later discover that this grave does indeed belong to Manus. After Manus' defeat, in present time, we can confirm that the abyss did subside as a result. As for Manus' soul being a "lump"; I think the dark soul is very much an antitesis to the other lord souls and it's not meant to be similar. Especially not since we know that the soul has been split countless times and that the pygmy was very different from the other giants plucking souls from the fire. Lastly, its just more satisfying to me as a narrative, the defeat of all 5 lords from the intro. xD

Loved this theory!!! it kinda made me think how dusk of oolacile fit into this. she is trapped inside manus and chamelon drops off of yuria's goon, which is sold by dusk in the first game, and priscilla uses hidden body also sold by dusk.

Wow, you are so wrong on this it's almost physically painful.

too bad its gael :/ lul

Easily the best Souls theory crafter on RU-vid today. It's that simple. You are #1 in accuracy, actually referencing the soul material, and your track record in being right. No one else is close, and "Vaati" or whatever the hell his bizarre name is, just cannot compete. I will support you. I will even start doing videos with you and we (my husband and I, both huge fans since Demon's Souls) promise to contribute extreme quality, so thanks for the offer. Right now I am concentrating on the lore for FFXV, but I will put that on hold to literally make sure you receive the exposure you deserve. You really are the best since EpicNameBro, and quite honestly, superior.

Thanks for the video. These comments are very interesting too! This ongoing discussion really makes one thing clear: the furtive pygmy did a good job.

No one: Absolutely No One: AshenHollow's Theories: VELKA

gosh this channel is awesome

Between you and Vaati I feel like I have the lore almost completely figured out.

You know I wasn't totally sold on the idea of velka being the pygmy, but some things do seem to make sense if it were the case. One thing that stands out to me is the fact that velka is virtually never brought up in ds3 outside that one statue (that I can think of) and it brings to mind that one phrase '...so easily forgotten.' My whole time playing ds3 I was waiting for the 'big velka reveal' and it never came T.T.

Before I watched this video, I thought Manus was the Pygmy. Now... not so much, haha. You really took your time and provided compelling evidence to back this one up, Jake. Now, Velka/Witch of Izalith is my frontrunner to be the Pygmy. Well done.

I like the Claymore influence in your Manus Theory.

Broke my phone screen this morning. This almost makes up for it

This video is super niche and it will never get a billion views strictly on the nature of its content, however, the production was top notch, as was its content and the research necessary, well done sir, praise the sun bro, you got gud . . . YOU GOT GUD.

brovo sir! another thought provoking video.

this completely makes sense to me, thank you

This video kicked my ass. So many things debunked...nice job man! I haven't looked through your videos, but if you haven't done anything on the Profaned Flame, I would be very interested in your take on it. There are a bunch of theories, like it being Aldia or Abyss-corrupted Old Chaos. So, yeah. Thanks for making this!

My theory is that whomever you are in each game is the Furtive Pygmy. The original pygmy split the dark soul and created the first humans from it. It stands to reason that maybe the original pygmy was "forgotten" because he split the soul so much that he was almost indistinguishable from any other human/ hollow. Over the course of the games the original dark soul regained power in the chosen undead. However the chosen is tricked by Kaathe into linking the flame dispersing the dark soul again, and so on and so forth. In each game the chosen undead is the furtive pygmy, and as you gain more power and get stronger you become closer to becoming the lord of dark.

this is beautiful man well put together. I believe you got something brewing. Velka has been under the radar through out the series and have never seen her face. Not a popular deity as people think. Dark Souls 3 has already covered what the statue of the sunlight bros is and who's the first born no doubt Bella is making here appearance too

You've earned a sub friend.

You should do a follow up on this since the ringed city. It is very possible that the furtive pygmy was one of the pygmy lords that Gael was snacking on. it would make since since it said he split the soul amongst his kind. The pygmy lords were probably the keepers of the dark soul alongside the furtive pygmy

Also in the intro, all other lords are mentioned by name but Velka seems to always be hushed away. "Furtive Pygmy" "rogue deity". Not sure I commit to this idea but it's a fun and probable bit of speculation.

When you said Manus and fire keeper in the same sentence the spikes on Manus's back instantly reminded me of the fire keeper soul but it could just be a coincidence..

Good stuff

It's a great theory! I clicked on this video with a grain of salt, but you actually blew my mind with how much evidence you brought up! Even though I still think Manus is most likely the furtive pygmy, you definitely made me reconsider the lore.

Sounds legits and fills some holes I had been wondering over.

The more I think about it, the more I start to believe that the pygmy never was one individual, but humanity as a whole. Maybe the Dark Soul never was ONE Lord Soul, but something else entirely. It certainly seems to work differently than Lord Souls. If you listen to the DS1 intro, it says that with fire, Light and Dark also came into existence. Perhaps the Lord Souls, or Souls in general, have something to do with that Light. The Dark Soul being the polar opposite of the Lord Souls would make a lot of sense. And because of the Ringed City DLC, we know that hollowing is likely a side effect of the cursed mark that a terrified Gwyn placed on the Undead.

Time to refresh my memory and fill it with info about the furtive pygmy for this new DLC

I know this is quite a late catch but rewatching this you forgot about the occult club you get from the mimic in anor londo.

That manus rng was ridiculous. 2 dork beads followed by the wombo combo. Jeez.

Before watching this video I always thought of the Furtive Pygmy of just being some random guy who died long before the curse happened. I never thought of them being someone we've heard a lot about, but this does make a lot of sense and for that I applaud you.

If you want to know something alerting in the first game, Crows always signify dangerous places with their visage. With that being said, Take a good look at the size of the crow sitting above Frampt.

Is it possible that Velka sacrificed her life, and therefore the Dark Soul in order to create humanity..? This would explain the ring of sacrifice for it was made out of a sacrificial rite of Velka, herself; a ring that protects souls, and humanity on death - both of the things that has a definition which pertains to what is being a "human." This'd also explain why we never actually see Velka in any of the games, I think you're onto something.

15:40 - I wonder if there's some sort of weird connection with the Occult Club in the hidden room in Anor Londo (near Havel's set). Or perhaps this item was simply hidden away because it is considered too dangerous, too dark, a weapon for fighting the gods.