"The state of being a sane, rational human being is depicted as fragile, with an ever present threat of animalistic regression." Hour long Zullie video essay when
It's sort of crazy how Manus both influenced Dark Souls, but even more influenced Bloodborne; But something even more crazy is how all the primordial beasts of the abyss seem to be made of WOOD, just like the great old one from Demon's souls. Fog and Trees, it all rotates back to these concepts.
@@ivanlagayacrus1891 And even Demon of Hatred, not only for his larger left hand and being a beastial ex human, but lets not forget that the sculptor made angry WOODEN buddhas that he burns in his bossfight
When I first fought Manus, his arena was so dark I thought he was absolutely huge. I just assumed you had to stay in the light while he maneouvred around the dark edges and you had to damage him when he overextended into the light. Choosing for his arena to be dark was a perfect choice because it let me just believe I was fighting a gigantic swirling blob of dark that would occassionally thrust a random arm or horn into the light in the centre to try and fight me.
Manus was one of my most intimidating bosses for this reason. Half the struggle was just getting an idea of his size and shape. It’s strange, it feels like it shouldn’t matter, but once I figured out what he looked like, then the fight became so much more manageable.
Manus managed to get it in his contract that he's allowed to come back at least every other game (discounting Deracine), so he was in Dark Souls, skipped Dark Souls II, came back as Cleric Beast in Bloodborne, sat Dark Souls III out, and then returned as Demon of Hatred in Sekiro. We'll have to see if they finally let him do two games in a row in Elden Ring.
The way Manus moves in his boss fight always felt to me like a mix of human and monkey/ape - he'll walk around leaning on his staff like an old man, then leap about acrobatically and use his arm like a tail. It ties in perfectly with his narrative role as the manifestation of dark corrupted by light. Easily the best boss in ds1 imo.
I feel like a lot of Manus' design elements served as the foundation for what eventually became the Pus of Man in DS3. The way his limbs are almost...liquid...and the way he swipes them around with those mangled claws. Plus, they both represent humanity that has completely given into their dark soul. But Manus will always be my boy for being the first, and only, muscle wizard in the series. The fact his catalyst was as strong as a mid tier great axe in terms of melee damage, combined with the fact it made your sorceries scale off of your strength was the coolest thing ever.
Not only Pus of Man, but also the Monstrosity of Sin (dropping metal band names like it's no one's business). I totally forgot Manu's left hand had this molar like growths, wich maybe makes the Monstrosity of Sin some sort of little baby offspring of THAT
I dunno about being the first or only. I think the demon firesage and stray demon could certainly fit the archetype of mages with physicality. Then, you should reconsider Darklurker's biceps, for another, later, muscle wizard.
@@NightmareBlade10 In DS1, because dark damage didn't exist as a damage type, hexes instead scaled off of the sorcery catalyst's physical damage and magic damage combined, and thus the physical scaling as well. I.e. the Manus Catalyst is so effective with hexes/dark magic because it has S scaling in both Intelligence and Strength, giving it high magic and physical damage. Typo edit: I originally put "Dexterity" instead of "Intelligence"
Manus has always stood out to me for the fact that his power is derived from loss, not by acquiring any special implement. The broken pendant seems to imply that despite it has no real power, Manus wants it purely for the comfort of nostalgia, to which no one else has any use for anyway (similarly to the starting gift pendant, in fact). If it was returned to him, would he even continue his rampage? Humanity itself is represented by vacancy and a desire for warm comforts, and Manus' hand is a perfect representation of want. I think the most interesting thing is how he isn't necessarily portrayed as evil, either, but merely as a threat to the marching advancement of Gwyn's civilization. In Gwyn's worldview, there's no room for selfish or banal desires, only sacrifice for the preservation of the flame. Even this theme is carried throughout Miyazaki's later works in much the same way as Manus' design is echoed time and again. It's always neat to see the different perspectives each game takes, though. Somehow, it seems there's always a degree of sympathy for Manus and his spiritual successors.
“Desire for warm comforts” I’m reminded of that dungeon scene of the King in Berserk talking to Griffith. He mentions that very same desire motivating people and why he was upset that Griffith defiled his daughter. I doubt many remember it though because Griffith tells him right after that the king is lusting after her as well.
Funnily enough, Gwyn and his loyalists desires are themselves selfish, not accepting their fate and giving space to the now ascending Human species just because he's afraid all he did would be lost.
Except Gywn was unbelievably selfish and banal himself. He sacrificed everything, both others and himself to prevent the end of the Age of Fire, of which he was the biggest most powerful figure, he just didn't want to live in a world where he wasn't top dog.
The ghru's, weird goatmen of farron swamp also have mass of wooden horns and distorted/missing facial features. You can see aswell on the darkwraith they have branches and roots sprouting from the cracks in their armour. And the ring city knight weapons have wooden protrusions that look like horns The game hints that they are of chaos, abyss, or both
The "calcified humanity" (idk what to call them but it's clear the design is used for rampant, corrupted humanity) reminds me a lot of the Pus of Man (and of course the stuff on his arm is almost surely the same thing). Seems to track that going nuts with humanity/abyss/whatever turns you into a seedbed for corruption.
@@MrHeorhe I think the pus of man enemies are the enemies in DS3 which start out normal and then explode into the big corrupted monsters, like the first boss, Iudex and some enemies on the high wall
My favourite part of his design is actually the way he’s obscured in the fight. The huge bony crest covered in eyes makes him look a lot larger than he really is when in the dark of his arena. It reminds me a lot of the way certain butterflies and moths have eye-like patterns on their wings to dissuade predators. This illusion hides the fact that Manus himself is actually relatively diminutive and scraggly (compared to other Dark Souls monsters anyway).
IMO, the most terrifying monsters aren’t the ones who were once human, rather the ones who recall being human and are horrified at what they’ve become.
@@bastek9633 just imagine.. being some random shrine maid and being transformed into something so inhuman, so alien, so that it doesn't even have eyes or hands.. Gives me the willies, it does
Manus definitely became a cornerstone of the Dark Souls world when he was introduced. The fact that the Queens of DS2 were probably born of those rampant human emotions within Manus really shows just how important he is to the overall narrative.
if the events of DKSII were relevant at all, which they arent, the few things that DKSIII introduced didnt speak that much of anything that happened in the game, changing location names and all that, its almost decanonized compared to how much DKSIII continues everything from DKSI
@@magnolia549 wtf, if you are refering to the first npc that talks to you in the ringed city i dont see how its impliyed or how it has anysense that a random pigmy lord that talks to you about gods = bad its the furtive pigmy ringed city still has a lot of sense with manus story at least in my opinion, there is almost nothing of official canon, if not explicitly stated its up for interpretation, miyazaki said it in an interview
The 4 daughters (plus son if you count the Darklurker) are all pieces of Manus. Nashandra is his Want Elena is his Rage Nadalia his Loneliness And Alsanna, his fears The Darklurker is thought to be Manus' lingering Humanity, seeking more servents of the dark to add into itself to feel whole again
@@Necrotaku999 DS3 came off as very fan service-y to me, especially in regards to how it tried to overtly reference what was the most popular game in the series at the time. DS2 imo at least felt like it was trying to tell a self contained story that paid reference to what came before it, but in a way that would make sense in the context of potentially thousands of years passing in-between games. You're free to feel that it makes DS2 "not important", but I still appreciate the storytelling the game did.
I've always loved how Manus kind of shows us the horror of being corrupted but still remembering being human, I think you mentioned it in your irythill giant dog video, but a lot of the horror inherent to dark souls isn't how the abyss and similar things warp, corrupt and destroy humanity, it's that the victims of this corruption remain human enough to remember humanity and to continue suffering. Kind of an "I have no mouth and yet I must scream" situation.
That's honestly why Ludwig bothers me so much. Aside from being markedly more hideous than other blood-corrupted beings, phase 2 brings the horrifying revelation that yes, he is still sentient and fully aware of everything, and THAT is what gets me. Nothing that looks like that should be burdened with self-awareness
@@twilight_phantom2969 and that made him even more of a "early Bloodborne Boss/character/theme in the Souls games" and it's pretty interesting, isn't? Haha
I never really thought about the links between Bloodborne's themes of turning into beasts but it's obvious now you mention it. Also really cool how Manus is now part of From's artstyle, which is interesting as I often find Manus isn't talked about as much compared to lot of other Souls bosses. It's like he's more subtle despite his appearance being the opposite of subtle.
Her kind of lurks in the background, little reminders popping up every now and then, like some sort of ancient ancestor, a figure from our past that walked the same path long, long ago. Funny, that.
I dunno, manus is a very hard boss fight, i finished that game many times already, and sometimes i just skip manus lmao. Even tho his lore is cool, and he is a cool boss. To defeat him the "easy way" you need the pendant, maybe summon sif, and have a non-elemental weapon/build. The hard way is just going in, so you have to dodge de dark orb barrages very precisely, manus is full agro, so he rarely lets you heal, and he is resistant to elements, i remember having zweihander lightning and hitting for like 150-200 dmg. Manus has like 6300+HP. So its kind of a grind. However, whenever i do bother to go down there, i can expect to have a great time.
@@hw_yozoraVODS ngl nowadays I think using the pendant makes the fight harder. His magic has safe zones you can stand in. Panic-switching to the pendant when he does stuff is just getting me killed.
I always thought that perhaps Manus still retains a good amount of emotional intelligence in him, to the point where, possibly, if the player and he met under different circumstances, he'd be a bit calm. I feel like Manus is scared, confused, and violently angry at his current state, and the wild Humanity just made him unable to properly... contain his emotions, I suppose. I feel like Dusk either was close to him before he died, or Dusk reminds him of someone he loved, which is why he stole her away. The Broken Pendant could also have been something that belonged to Dusk, or the woman she reminds Manus of. If anything, I feel bad for Manus, poor guy seems to be unintentionally spreading the Abyss, and just wants to be left alone and die quietly.
True, humanity and darkness have long been tied to emotions.. and considering how the Oolicilians (probably) tortured the poor guy to try and unlock the secrets of said dark magicks.. It's no wonder why he went berserk and started thrashing about like an animal, literally spewing out his emotions in the form of heavy hearted dark orbs
Manus’s arm might be inspired by a “Monkeys paw” which is basically a sort of “be careful with what you wish for” thing, as the residents of oolacile drove manus insane by leeching off of his dark power for their own gain. Oh, and monkeys are the closest animal related to humans
@David Assébof I mean, genetically, yeah, anthropologically speaking not so much. Apes and humans obviously are evolutionarily close as their common ancestry makes clear. Not need to be a dick just because the guy was scientifically abstract in what he meant. We all know what he meant, and he’s not wrong. The use of ape-like phenotypes and behaviors to symbolise mental and moral degeneration of humans is a common theme in Fromsoft games and can be found in various enemies that aren’t downright apes themselves.
The scrolling swirly texture on his arm looks very similar to the Pus of Man enemies from 3. No doubt an intentional design on Froms part. Also, I feel like Manus is the first place we see the "blown out" design (idk how else to phrase it), of how when you're corrupted shit just starts flying out in all directions, blowing open the fragile human form (a thing that once again happens to the Pus of Man enemies, and probably others I'm not thinking of right now)
I figure it's a Manatee thing, only in 3 Manatee takes in an even goopier form than in 1 because of the Deep or whatever. I figure Aldritch is made out of condensed Manatee jizz or whatever, having absorbed it out of his victims kinda like Gael but on a larger scale
You're description of being "blown out" made me think of what popcorn does. That's basically what it is. A human form that explodes outward with corruption. The original corn kernel is still there, but it's cracked and split open. You can see it hiding inside the mass of the popcorn.
Look no further than the boss Vicar Amelia in Bloodborne. She was literally blown apart with blood splattering everywhere when we watch her transform into a corrupted beast.
A big part of his design as well through environments also contributes to him. In the middle of his arena is a little human-shaped imprint in the rock that- I would assume- was his resting place before the Oolacilians discovered him and dragged him up. Also- less noticed by most people- you access the abyss by passing through a small dungeon corridor where the bonfire is. If you notice the environment there's a cell that's been broken out of with the blue-black abyssal sludge leading toward the far end of the hall where the wall's been broken out. So it would seem Manus was held hostage in the cell in question where he went mad, presumably transformed (at least partially), and broke free and fled back into the abyss. Manus, father of the abyss, once the furtive pygmy and the father of mankind, slept in his abyss away from the power of the gods and their kin. The Oolacilians found him and proceeded to imprison and torture him to learn his Dark sorceries. They couldn't leave well enough alone and prodded the being that's the very reason for them being a part of the world and turned him into a beast. Tragic. Who knows- maybe the very reason the Abyss corrupts is because of his turning. Maybe there wasn't even an Abyss until he was tortured and his suffering corrupted the Dark Soul and birthed the Abyss as an unnatural byproduct of its power? Either way, Manus is a tragic boss and I believe his downfall is the sole reason for the abyssal corruption we witness in the games. Damn the Oolacilians.
Considering The Ringe City DLC the theory of manus being the furtive pigmy don't make sense instead seems like he's one of the pigmy lords who could left the ringed city when Oolacile sent a mission to the ringed city as you can read in the clothes of Halflight spear of the church and his bow
@@dreadknight0 Exactly. Maebae theories about manus beeing the furtive pigmy have been disproven times and times since DS3, but some guys tend to ignore them to stick to their own headcannon. It's a bit sad.🤷
@@MidnightatMidian Is like that theory about midir arena's being where the first flame originated only because it looks similar to the cinematic when it don't have any sense
@@dreadknight0 The Pygmy we meet on first arriving, as well as the munched ones have the Abyss swirl on their clothing, used by the Pilgrims of the Dark covenant as their symbol. It is possible then that the Dark Soul was indeed found where the Ringed City now resides, the city being built over the top of it.
@@KarmaSpaz12 If you check the cinematic of Dark Souls 1, you can notice that when the narrator talks about , heat and cold , life and death , etc we are passing through the brances of an arch tree, then we pass through the trunk (extremely similar to the great hollow) until we reach to the first flame where the lords find their souls. Later in dark souls 1 at kiln of the first flame we can notice it is built over the trunk of an arch tree, and that repeats in dark souls 3 when we come back to that place. Meanwhile the midir arena arguments only have things like "hey that place looks similar" and really vague clues like clothes of a covenant from dark souls 2
The latter. He has some weird obsession with that pendant you get, and when ever he senses it, he reaches across time and space to yank you to him so he can take it.
@@shubniggurath3947 It has to do with who he was before the corruption made him _Manus._ It represents his last shreds of humanity. The only thing stopping him from forgetting himself and going feral. His final lifeline, so desperate he will cling to it across time itself.
That portruding, pronounced ribcage is also heavily present in beasts of Bloodborne. I always assumed it was connected to Moon Presence, as it also shared that trait (even more extremely, almost Gaping Dragon-like) and was very closely connected to the Scourge (likely the source of the Old Blood). I didn't realize it traced back to Manus. Artorias DLC was really something, huh.
I think a lot of fundementals for Bloodborne was laid in the Artorias DLC. One thing that leaps to mind is the first time I fought Artorias. I might have tried and failed 20 times, but then I started fighting him as I would any Bloodborne boss instead of the usual Dark Souls way, and suddenly the fight was a breeze. I mean, I walked right over him.
@@yourehereforthatarentyou The style of combat. It's just a hunch mind you. I have never been able to beat Artorias, while fighting him defensively, like I normally play dark souls. Only when I assume the aggressive style of Bloodborne. On top of that, there is Chester, who looks like some kind of proto hunter.
I realize now that the wooded themes may all be rooted in the arch trees, the only other thing than the archdragons during the age of ancients. from the trees our body, the flame our soul, the moment the flame fades our soul does too and to wood we return.
Manus will always be a top tier boss in all souls game, the lore, the attacks, the skills, the zone, the introduction, his death, etc. Few bosses can top all of that...but not a crossbow being shot behind the fog :w
I feel like Manus is probably the best boss in DS1. I like Orn and Smough, but the fight can get really chaotic and individually they aren't that interesting. Manus is a large list of moves that are individually predictable, but all need to be answered correctly. There's no AI cheese, no range or blindspot to be abused: he can always hit you, but you can always respond. He's even enjoyable with different builds, which is honestly an achievement
The evil queens in Dark Souls 2 were born from his fragments. His left hand resembles the ugly hand monsters of Profaned Capital. And Soul of Cinder's combo attack throws your player the same way as his. The influence of Manus has remained in Fromsoft games ever since he was introduced, and rightfully so.
@@aquasomnus fr Ivory King is awesome: He's a super powerful mercenary that retires, wandered around the world until he settle down and created a giant city While the other lords are manipulated by the queens, Ivory is the only one who is not He genuinely loved Alsanna, a being made of pure darkness whose sole reason is to bring ruin to the world, and prevented her from destroying the city without fighting And finally, he places his throne RIGHT ON TOP OF THE CHAOS PORTAL so he will be the first thing those demons will have to face after they came out What a gigachad holy shit
Anyone notice the similarities between Manus' left hand and the hand-beasts in DS3? I've no fuckin clue how they'd connect, but seems like a ridiculously 1 to 1 design.
The hand-beasts are widely thought to be, or at least be connected to, the queens from DS2, who were children of Manus--Nashandra, Elana, Nadalia, and Alsanna. So yes, not a coincidence at all.
Eleonora description... “A strange weapon found among malformed inhabitants of the Profaned Capital. The Profaned Flame was triggered by the curse of these women, relatives of a certain oracle, but despite their culpability, they went on living, without any cares.” Those malformed inhabitants the hand monsters are Abyssal types that take extra damage from Artorias’ GS. The only oracle mentioned by name is Alsanna in DS2 so they must be related to her which would explain their nature. Since they are said to be malformed my guess is it was the Profaned Flame that corrupted that. As when you give Andre the Profaned Coal he talks about it being much too dark and that he can see The Abyss in it. As for why the women were cursed the leading theory that makes the most sense is the Profaned Flame was some new entity. Spawned by the Old Chaos being tainted by the Abyss since Alsanna was using her powers to keep it at bay and both the Abyss/Old Chaos appear to have some from of sentience or will. There’s a lot of evidence to support the ties between DS2/The Profaned Flame/The Profaned Capital. I don’t really feel like naming them all but one of the more striking ones are the pictures of Nashandra and Eleum Loyce within Irithyll.
It's sad that every time I fought him i had never thought of how much of a great design Manus has; instead i only focused on how to beat him which i did, after gruelling numerous attempts.
He's even harder than Nameless King and Gael in my opinion. I just can't seem to do a reasonable amount of damage to him and his grab attack gets me every single time no matter how much I backstep. I wish they gave a little bit more of a wind up on that move and I think he'd be a lot more enjoyable.
@@NightmareBlade10 nameless is harder, manus has a lot of puzzle elements that once you figure out he becomes easier. Like using the silver pendant to reflect his abyss magic makes his spellcasting a joke. As long as you have max upgraded armour and weapons manus is manageable and you can punish almost all of his attacks with any weapon. I had to switch off a slow weapon to beat nameless. Not because I was messing up but because the huge weapons are just too slow and you cant risk trading blows in that fight. so there are only 2-4 safe attacks you can punish with an ultra greatsword. And I say 2-4 because him casting spells is easy to punish but his dashes can put him too far away to punish.
@@NightmareBlade10 if the grab attack hits you every time you are getting greedy and trying to hit him after he has already recovered from his previous attack. Just hitting him while he recovers, and making space before he can start his next attack will slow down the fight a lot but you wont be in range for his grab and he will likely never use it.
@@MrHeorhe I mean I beat Nameless King without ever upgrading my armor and having only a semi decent weapon. Nameless King's moveset is just a lot more consistent and relatively fair. It feels more like a proper duel than an actual bossfight with bullet hell elements like Manus'. I definitely appreciate the tips though. I had to give up a bit because none of my weapons were doing any damage. Too bad there's no respec in this game like there is in DS3 or else I'd change my build completely.
Zullie, this is your best video to date, they just keep getting better. The nuance with which you illuminate FromSoft's exquisite craftsmanship, and that beautiful reveal at the end to further highlight this fact, absolutely brilliant stuff.
I haven't seen this talked about much, but Manus reminds me quite a lot of the Witch of Izalith, even if how they came to be and what they became are different in ways. Obviously, both share wood-like qualities (common in Dark Souls, but still). The Bed of Chaos is made of wood and channels fire through it's wooden tentacle things, while Manus channels the darkness. If Manus' corruption were to continue growing, its possible he might have eventually become a creature quite like the Bed of Chaos, a massive tree-like entity spreading corrupted dark throughout the world, mutating things further into... whatever they become in a quite similar way to how the Bed of Chaos created demons. The most interesting thing I noticed, however, is that they both came to be from losing control. The Witch of Izalith used her Lord Soul to create the Flame of Chaos, but for whatever reason she was unable to control it, leading to her transformation into the Bed of Chaos (the "heart" is obviously the Chaos Bug, but we don't know if that was always the case or if she grew to the state. If we want to compare her to Quelaag and her sister or Manus as points of comparison, we could theorize her original transformation being a large buglike creature similar to Quelaag, but with wooden growths and perhaps fire taking a similar role as the darkness in Manus' design. Eventually the growing wood may have begun to overtake her shrinking bug portion, resulting in her final form as the Bed of Chaos). Manus, too, began to change after losing control of his humanity, but what that means is anyone guess. Did he possess the Dark Soul? Did he simply possess humanity far stronger than normal? Or did his humanity become so powerful after his torture and loss of his pendent led to rampant violent emotions strengthening and distorting his humanity far past normal limits? Regardless, the end result was corruption. This has been overly rambly, but what I'm trying to say is that there are similar ideas presented. Two sides of the same coin, the loss of control and corruption of fire, while the other is the loss of control and corruption of dark. Neither one inherently evil in nature, but being distorted beyond recognition after rampant growth. Both with a strong wooden element of their design, one far older and far more prominent, while the other is far younger and less pronounced. Either way, I'm no expert in Dark Souls lore, I just had a thought while I was playing and decided to think about it a bit.
I'd argue that Manus is THE most important character in the Souls series, followed by Gwyn, and then Slave Knight Gael, and Aldia landing a nice 4th place. The lore implications of his appearance alone are staggering, and the effects of his existence put so much weight to Gwyn's fears that it justifies an enormous deal of the shit he pulled. The fact we never meet Gwyn pre-hollowing is what makes his actions so questionable. Was he truly an asshole, or what he just THAT desperate to prevent literally everything becoming like Manus? Is he stubbornly refusing to like nature take its course for mankind, or performing the ultimate noble sacrifice and suffering forever to keep back the dark, and prevent his people and legacy from becoming like that *THING*? All these questions and guesses, made possible solely by the lone appearance of Manus. THAT is why he is the most important character of all.
Hold on, Oolacile and the Artorias DLC happen chronologically AFTER Gwyn has linked the First Flame. Manus’s abhorrent transformation was due to him being a ‘Primeval Man’ (a-la, Pre-Fire Linking brought mortality to mankind), who’s powerful Dark Soul reacted far more violently to being shackled by the Flame than any living man (who had only known the existence of Light). His form is a direct consequence of Gwyn’s actions, just like the Pus and Deep in Dark Souls 3. Shackled for too long, Dark flares and becomes feral in opposition to it’s tranquil nature. Only by being subjugated by Gwyn, thwarting the natural order, has the horror of the Abyss been unleashed. His paranoia directly caused the thing he most feared, that’s one of the themes of the series
I think it’s fairly clear that certain parts of the omen and dung eater designs are inspired by manus. The protrusions on dung eater’s armor are very reminiscent of the bone like protrusions on manus’s larger left hand. Also the long and chaotic wooden like horns protruding from manus are similar to the ones that protrude from the omen enemies as well as other omen characters like Morgott and Mogh.
Beastial is goddamn right, i swear i thought i was fighting Rajang the first time i faced him and facing a goddamn rajang in an enclosed space is just scary
Oh god you just gave me a flashback to the Monkey Madness quest in MHW where you have to fight two Furious Rajangs in the arena. I still have nightmares of getting left behind with one of the big freaking monkeys because my teammates thought it would be funny to pull the big lever in the middle.
I love how Manus is juxtaposed so perfectly with Gael, since in his most regressed, hollowed state, Gael reclaimed his sense of humanity from a bestial state. It goes to show a difference between the pygmies, and the humans which descended from their fragment of the lord soul.
That abyss dlc is one of the best things that happened to dark souls trilogy, story is super cool, location is awesome, boss design is absolutely fantastic ... shame DSR was such a flop, I would really like to see this part of the game brought up to modern level, there were many cool things in later games, but nothing this awesome ..
Hopefully the Demon's Souls remake's reception makes FROM reconsider and give us a "real" remake of DS1, instead of "DSFix but with more bloom and also it costs money this time"...
@@GameDevYal Demon's Souls remake wasn't worth. If it had included the 6th archstone, kept the music and voices intact, not added preorder bonuses and not changed npc/enemy models then yeah it would've been good.
The “palm” of Manus’ hand reminds me of that second head/mouth thing on Ludwig in Bloodborne. Very cool to see the design consistencies between the different characters in the series!
It is crazy just how much of Fromsoftwares Design for Dark Souls and Bloodborne came from Manus being the most emblematic piece of the chess board. We see the Hand as a symbol many many times, even the ones with teeth became separate enemies. Same with the Wood that Zulie mentions There is something tranquil and weird about how Humanity came from the dark, deep down in the void of blackness surrounded by roots, so every beast that turns into this bestial form of Humanities core becomes black as a void and littered with roots because that's what they all were, a chaotic nothing of darkness at the root of the great trees before the Age of Fire occurred and gave it form.
I just realized his eeird big hand is kinda like the "rot of humanity" enemies from DS3 (if you dont know what im talking abouts its the thing Gundyr becomes in his 2 phase) those weird big slimy snake things
Well, he definitely seems to have been giving some inspiration to some creatures in Dark Souls III. The swirling blackness around his left arm appears to be similar to what you'd see on The Pus of Man And his hand resembles the Monstrosity of Sin with its chubby wide fingers and toothlike protrusions on the inside of his hand. Also, the way that his ribs have seemingly split along his back and grown outwards along with growing black fur and a tail on his body reminds me a lot of The Beasts of Pontiff Sulyvahn
When you noted the disproportionate left arm, I immediately saw the Demon of Hatred. That boss is a great example of your points about From’s art direction
Manus reminds me of the Titanite demons that you can find. One arm holding a staff while the other is on the ground, the legs positions, how they can jump and attack you. Maybe it's to show how Manus' influence can still be seen in the world, even years after his defeat.
My favorite boss in all the Soulsborne series. Even after all this years playing DS, I still feel a rush of adrenaline and a deep sense of dread when I enter the Abyss and get closer to his boss room, diving into this disturbing silence and total darkness. He's definitely intimidating and his lore is fascinating, even if there's not that much. Thanks for honoring this character with this video, you're definitely carrying our community in the best way possible ;-)
As somebody who plays Ninja Gaiden, I think one thing that's very important from an art direction standpoint in really nailing these amazing characters is how they are animated and brought to life. To me, that's one of the greatest things about Manus, not only does he look amazing and is clearly a ground breaking, lore heavy and thematic design, but he's also animated to fill the part. The way he moves, growls, and was probably the most aggressively animated monster in dark souls until Bloodborne really does bring to to life and make believable his backstory and his all important role as the father of the abyss. One thing that I cannot stand in video games is when there is great art direction, but the animation and aggressiveness doesn't do the design justice, and Fromsoftware never has that issue. It's something that, as a fan of many action games, I can appreciate quite alot.
I wish ds1 got another dlc, would have been dope to see what design we would have gotten before the rest of From unfolded their artistic genius in bb and sekiro
And you had to show us that the dark hand of Manus (which very closely resembles how Hand in Spanish is MANO) is pretty much the Hand Monster from DS3.
New Londo was a city inside a cave, with a big hole where light shone through, where the people at some point worshipped the gods and that ended up tainted by the Abyss.
@David Assébof In DS1, Anor Londo was the whole city of the gods, not just the cathedral/manor we fight O&S in. In DS3, Anor Londo is only the original cathedral. Either the city we saw in the background of DS1 was lost/destroyed and rebuilt as Irithyll, or it was just renamed to fit with Gwyndolin's rule. And while it's no longer the city of the gods, since the race of Gwyn is mostly extinct or very scattered, it's very explicitly a city for humans descended from them. So yeah, it's a bit weird, but it isn't completely wrong. Lotrhic seems to be in a way the new Anor Londo, being a kingdom with a lot of influence and ties to Gwyn's children, with sun worship, and carrying on the linking of the flame. It's also a city on top of a mountain, altho that might not have been always the case.
@David Assébof Anor Londo was the CITY of the Gods, not just the stairs to the cathedral. Geographically, the beginning of Irithyll would be below where you would start the Duke's Archives.
It's probably not that strong a coincidence, but the teeth on Manus's monstrous hand definitely make me think of the Dung Eater's Omen armor set, and how the protrusions (to me, at least) look more like teeth than actual horns as described in the text. Between that and the idea that humanity is so fragile that it probably takes a push before the beast takes over, it's only fitting that Manus's hand and the Omen armor share such a similarity when the Dung Eater, who has "The heart of an omen without the body to match", is such a monster internally, and externally with the armor.
For me personally, I think Manus is the most terrifying and intimidating boss in all the Souls series especially considering where you fight him. It's crazy to considering how strong he must have been to defeat Artorias at full strength, and I often wondered if Artorias actually weakened Manus to a degree kinda like how Oscar weakened the Asylum Demon so we could defeat it. 🤔
@@Goodbutevilgenius I mean isn't that basically the general consensus of what happened to him? He attempts to kill Manus, arm gets broken and gets a big dose of darkness, then since pup Sif couldn't have possibly survived in the midst of such darkness on his own without a blessing/ward, so Artorias no longer able to bear the weight of his greatshield he protected Sif by leaving shield behind to expel the darkness from Sif, thus for Artorias he couldn't properly dispell the darkness or heal from it so his fate was sealed.. So gravely wounded by the dark, without his shield, and in shame he hid himself away to await the end of the world or be slain unknowingly by the Chosen Undead? Unless new lore has been discovered that's just what I always believed how things played out. Makes me wonder if Artorias swallowed his pride and sought help after the Manus battle if a cleric could have healed him? It appears when you meet Artorias he is somewhat himself initially and the darkness causes him to rage and go berserk, which is why he slays the bighead bro thing and just kinda stares at you for a moment.. Makes you wonder
@@joshrakestraw3319 Why would you think that Artorias and Sif have battled Manus if Sif, who hasn't moved since Artorias placed his shield, isn't even close to the boss arena?
@@Goodbutevilgenius The true reason Artorias may have left the chasm of the abyss was to warn the others that he failed, and therefore that the spread of darkness has not been stopped. I honestly have no idea why he left Sif behind unless Sif to was injured and unable to leave with him at that time, which if Artorias had a broken arm he could only carry his sword and would have needed it to possibly fight his way out of the chasm and possibly come back for Sif or even hope Ciaran would come back to fetch Sif for she was probably strong enough to do atleast that. Artorias had to find a good middle ground after the battle; he couldn't carry his shield no longer but still needed his sword to fight his way out to atleast forfill a duty to carry on the torch to someone else to defeat Manus so he decided to leave it with Sif to erect a ward around Sif in the hopes one of his comrades or successor would come to save Sif AND possibly slay Manus. The thing none of them were expecting was the appearance of The Chosen Undead, who YOU were the one that ultimately freed Sif which explains why Sif was so terribly sad when you appear to get the ring to walk the abyss. You carried out the very thing that Artorias was hoping for.. You saved Sif AND slayed Manus, additionally you were able to achieve other things like putting Sir Artorias to rest before he was completely consumed by darkness and lost himself. Heck you even slayed Kalameet to top it off! I cannot completely answer your question but I appreciate someone questioning the popular narrative because it is Dark Souls after all, and I believe some interpretation is left up the player 🙃
But seriously there's no way the small fry could have wounded Artorias like that so it must have been Manus. It would be the equivalent of one of those small blue valley Drakes gravely wounding DragonSlayer Ornstein which makes no sense.. Manus is in the list ot hardest soulsborne bosses so it's safe to say Manus wrecked Sir Artorias, and possibly when Manus was stronger than when we fight him. I have no idea how much time has passed after you find Artorias and fight Manus.. I also believe The Chosen Undead fights a weaker Artorias and him being corrupted by the dark doesn't make him stronger but only more violent and animalistic. Artorias would have been much more difficult in his prime when he could two hand his sword and use his magic shield. We fight a shadow of him but the darkness makes him extremely violent and unpredictable. This is also the reason I believe Manus was "weakened" and gave us that chance we needed to defeat him
Maybe the 2 top examples so far are Ludwig and Laurence. Ludwig managed to be reminded of his humanity only because he had the Moonlight Sword. Laurence on the other hand, seems to be suffering and is desperate to get his humanity back, lashing out in pure emotion and instinct.
This OST is gold. It keeps coming back in my mind and I asked myself where I heard it. Then I remembered it was from your vid Zullie. Thanks for your awesome video's.
Such a cool character design and lore surrounding Manus...though the theory has faded a lot in DS3, I still want to believe Manus was the pygmy. Tbh, it's a wonder why they didn't make Manus the pygmy. The Ringed City was a cool lore by itself, but removed some obvious but still mysterious feeling Manus had.
Yeah I never understood this either. If Manus was the OG pygmy then a lot of puzzle pieces would have fit into place, but then we were left to believe he was just some nameless hollow whereas the actual pygmy kings in the ringed city were the ones that discovered and secured it, with no connection to Oolacille, Manus, or his offspring. This simply retconned the entirety of what we were led to believe and left us with a crap ton of questions. Was he the pygmy's son? Relative? Or just some random dude who marinated in the abyss like some dehydrated piece of beef jerky left in a sewage pipe? Why exactly is he so powerful that he was able to corrupt a super advanced civilization like Oolacile? Everything points to him being THE Pygmy and original inheritor of the Dark Soul, especially considering how he was the last boss to be added via DLC, and they went the whole game without even mentioning what a Dark Soul is. I wonder why they didn't lean into that idea as much as they should've in the sequels. Sure you can see bits and pieces of his design in a whole bunch of enemies in DS3, but despite being such an integral part of the game there is literally no direct reference to him the same way you see some of the Gods and other characters explicitly plastered around the game. Even in Farron Keep (i.e. what remains of Oolacille, or Darkroot) there is no direct callback to him other than in the Ghrus, despite him being so integral to the development of that location. He's basically the reason why Farron Keep is the awful death pit it is today. It's kind of a shame that history has long forgotten him despite his corruption being what caused the Abyss/Deep to run so rampant in Lothric, indirectly or directly influencing the majority of the game. (And all of the enemies we see corrupted by their humanity)
I've played about 5 minutes of dark souls 3... That's all. I've never been a gamer except when I was little and absolutely obsessed with morrowind, and I will occasionally entertain the total war series (yet even then, I'll only really play medieval 2... And that's bloody rare) Yet... I find your channel absolutely fascinating, and have to watch everything you post... Just astonishing, I can't get enough of what you do, very clever! And even when freaky, so beautiful.. The makers of these world's should be infinitely proud, and you are the most marvelous tour guide
I loved the theory that Manus was the furtive pygmy, really made more sense for the lore of the game but alas, just another great theory lost to the ages.
I think the way From uses trees and wood as the basic structure of certain creatures like the Divine Dragon, Manus, giants in Dark Souls II, etc. is a way to communicate just how old these beings are. Nature is extremely old and has been a part of the world for millions of years, even before the dinosaurs. One of the oldest kinds of plants is the tree, and trees can grow to be very, *very* old depending on the species. Similarly, dragons are made of stone (or at least look like it) to symbolize their eternal lifespan. Also, Manus might have an enlarged left hand to emphasize the idea that people perceive him as evil. In many cultures around the world, the left hand is said to be "unclean" for various reasons. In the Bible, God's left hand side is said to be his "smiting" side or his "bad side". Manus' huge left hand could be that way to further communicate his destructive and corrupted nature.
"The Abyss, while the Archtrees the only very roots can reach the Abyss and feel its touch. What a lovely existence. To touch. For what? That there's life in the abyss?" - A quote that formulated in my head
i never realized how much of bloodborne's monster design is present in manus, its really cool to see the themes and design choices they would later pick up already present here
Also I LOVE LOVE LOVE how your music choices are so spot on for the video, you've got good taste and you reminded me how good the music in Twilight Princess was!
You recently asked on Twitter which was our favourite video of yours, and I couldn't decide until this one came out. It's so fascinating being able to take a close look at him and appreciate the artistic influence he's had on Fromsoftware