Elden Ring - Weird little pests 

In my opinion, it somewhat makes sense to use this enemy. On a close scenario such as catacombs, it gives a lot of play to know how to fight them, their short size makes them easier to put in on larger groups without necesarily making them overwhelming, and the stick to walls abilities catches the player off guard if he wasn´t paying attention to the environment. Also its fun to use the traps against them, knowing how funny their voice sounds. I think its a very good pick.

The Watchdog Staff also suggests that the Burial Watchdogs outright command the imps. Which I would say also points towards there being at least some form of personality between them.

I never played DS3 (it's on my bucket list), so as someone new to these enemies when I started Elden Ring, I felt that the imps did a really good job of making the catacombs feel oppressive and dangerous. So I think it was a good design choice on FromSoft's part.

Thrall haters rise up

@@gobgonson8053 Go play it right now! And Bloodborne too, if you haven't!

Lel was machst du denn hier

don't complain too much, they can put back ds1 toxic blow dart dudes

My reaction was "oh my fucking god they brought them back!" _dies inside_ "AND THEY ADDED BLEED TO THEIR ATTACKS"

Thank god that at least we can stance break them now

theyre in leyndell itself too, on the roof tops

Yeah, I like them. They're annoying to fight, but I have a soft spot for them.

@@jamesruth100Oh, absolutely! ❤

I always thought the Imps were pretty cute, and the Fanged Imp Ashes solidified that idea more

Nah fuck that

I hates this enemies in DS3, specialy in NG++... And then, Fromsoft gave them bleed effect

No, you are!

@@brainafkstube5393i hope that references what i think it does

They really are

I just end souls 2 and can appreciate your avatar 🥲

@@ballistic9644 i am unsure

that is the best story ever

Secret Ending Trophy Unlocked: become Elden Imp and unleash such chaos on the Lands Between by freeing your weird little pests from their tombs, that even Shabriri comes to envy you. May Imps take the world!

My first playthrough, I started playing as an elegant Carian Knight, wielding powerful sorceries. And ended the playthrough as Imp Boy, bearer of the forked hatchet and the kitty mask.

Ever since the first catacomb right by the start in Limgrave I've made it my mission to kill every single one of the little rats to extinction every time I go through a new catacomb. Sorry about your kids :( they ganked me first tho

Now I want an "Age of Imps" ending

And it is also stated on the Crystal Dart that there is some sort of "Golem Crafter" which used a tool made of said Crystal. They are also made with materials found in Crystal tunnels, commonly associated with the Tunneler and Crystalian mobs, tying together the Imps, Watchdogs, Crystalians, Tunnelers and possibly the Golems as well.

@@elyssium_ A connection to the golem crafter or an inherent quality of any type of living stone? I kind of wonder honestly.

⁠@@elyssium_maybe that’s who that stone knight in the dlc trailer is, I kinda doubt it tho

I wonder if there's meant to be a connection with the cemetery shades? They've got weird bug things controlling them, and even drop the mantis blade. Maybe the bugs are what control the golems as well? Idk just making things up

Good thinking @@synphilia4776

time for bug therefore praise the bug!

So it's a second catacomb bug themed enemy type huh. It makes sense more than statues living in the roots lol.

So much about elden ring is about who gives life, with there being images of people growing on the erdtree and melina's dialogue about boc's mother implying that its somewhat unique to have a mother. Maybe when people create life like the imps or the puppets they do have a soul per say but its more like an animal or can not fully think. The Albinaurics may of been the first artificial life that can fully think like humans.

Or maybe whoever created them harvested souls from living beings to create them.

@@talongreenlee7704If that were the case you'd expect the spirit to be whatever they were before they animated an automaton

It could also come from Japanese myth, that inanimate objects that exist for long enough eventually develop souls. Could be that, or could ancient technology, or magic.

In Demon's Souls the soul is what grants perception, and perception/collective consciousness is what creates the world, that's why the mists swallows places without life in them, they cease to exist since there's no one to perceive them. So who says it cannot go the other way around? what if artificial intelligence can gain a soul through perception. Miyazaki has been consistent with his use of the soul throughout all of his games. Through it perception shapes reality, that's how magic/miracles/pyromancies work, the only difference is the type of belief, the personal reality that shapes them.

burial watchdogs also look like cats. despite their name..... every golem creature is cat, and every non-human enemy is dog. this is the way.

I 100% thought the watchdogs were cats before finding out their name. They will forever be cats to me.

Could this be a cat?

@@evanseifert8858 yeah their pose and anatomy remind me of a sphinx (kind of) also the fact that they protect tombs

I can think of a fix for that, but it'd probably be a bit weird to implement. Basically when the head is put on the neck bones change to still work but also lessen warping and clipping

But as someone who only knows how code works in theory but not how to actually code, and as someone who doesn't have a computer or elden ring to even try this, I don't know if it's even possible

Imagine if we could sacrifice more health for stronger spirit ashes, like mimic tear. I would happily lose 99% hp to summon like 12 imps at once

You can still upgrade the rats

God I don't even want to imagine a Leyndell crawling with these stone bastards.

Two years, holy crap. It felt like half a year at most...

as with the thralls too but i don’t know why my brain always thought they seemed kind of similar to the bellkeepers in ds2

same, except i also hate them with a fiery passion which i imagine is exactly the sorta relationship fromsoft hoped for from their players

me too! especially the wet flip-flop sound they make as they walk

unless you are waiting for a elevator and these fuckers come and try to assrape you.

Aesthetically the imps are adorable.

Don't forget albinurics, mimic tears, and gargoyles are artificial beings as well

You could even connect these golems to the albinaurics, as the albinaurics are artificial lifeforms made of some sort of liquid metal. Maybe it's the same technology, and if so, then it likely goes back to the Eternal Cities and the silver tears.

@@isaacbruner65 possibly. Although, it's important to state that both the Albinaurics and the general puppet/golem creatures vary very differently. The Albinaurics are organic for the most part. The marionettes, golems, crystallians and imps are all inorganic, and should technically be inanimate. It's clear the puppet/golem type enemies are "alive" to some capacity, given you can have spirit ashes of them. However, it could possibly just be a similar thing to Dark souls 2's golems where the souls function more like fuel than a living being in control. Or perhaps a repurposed soul. I remember somewhere reading about "everything has souls, even rocks". I don't know if that's related to the Chinese Chi, or something, but given that Fromsoft and Miyazaki borrow many things from actual mythology, it's possible that maybe there's something to be said about how life and death actually work in Elden ring, and why some should be inanimate statues are able to move like beings. I feel like, there has to be something distinguishing these general "artificial servants/slaves", like one was created to imitate living things, one was clearly industrial. Like DS2, old knights were just the old iron king's mass produced army of artificial knights gifted to Vendrick.

I feel quite the opposite: since I was already so familiar with those enemies and could deal with them easily, the dungeons ended up feeling less engaging when the imps were involved.

They also had the same mask as greirat my beloved

yeah, they were pretty bad as normal enemies, that's the problem. And instead they made them even more of normal enemies when they have boss tier movesets bruh.

No Greirat, don't go loot the castle!

@@vazazell5967 Not boss tier movesets at all, come on What I would say is that they overused them to the point they weren't surprising anymore

@@skilletborne literally more complicated moveset then most ds1 bosses

Same!! I love them

In japan, after 100 years, an object animate or not, becomes a Yokai Spirit. so there is already context for their culture. Many folks have seen the Yokai lampshade, a covered lampshade with a birds foot instead of a stand. Animism means the very rocks are alive and contain spirits.

I have a strong distain for them, but not much hate. Annoying as they are, a quick shield counter is often enough to stagger them, that gives you a crit, and that's that. It's the ones that hang back and do nothing but throw crap that I *hate.*

I love them. They have surprisingly complex movesets for being common enemies. I love the "smarter" enemies of Elden Ring. I want a challenging game to be challenging.

They're*

Nah, I actually love the freaky little dudes. I also liked the thralls in DS3. They're honestly not too bad if you block them with a shield or a weapon, it makes them pretty easy to take care of.

Majula theme on top

@@suspicioustumbleweed4760 real ones know

There's some Zelda but most of it is usually from King's Field The Ancient City. The area music in that game is catchy and atmospheric at the same time. Makes you wish the Soulbourne games used proper area music more often instead of just silence or ambient sounds.