Darkest Dungeon Lore: The Brigands and Vvulf

A video going over some possible lore involving the Brigands from Darkest Dungeon.
This is not an official statement on the lore of the game.
My thoughts, opinions, and theories are my own, and subject to change if new information is presented.
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[@EmperorMatticusII]

Ancestor can’t blame m i l l e r for this one.

[@kuro456]

"The worst kind of parasite, opportunists" -The Narrator, Darkest Dungeon 2

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

It is the Academic in DD2 that speaks, not the Ancestor.

[@keztannis6848]

@@aureliodeprimus8018 He said *Narrator* You don't need an identity to be a narrator.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

@@keztannis6848 When he wrote it originally he said Ancestor. He corrected it afterwards.

[@valois6846]

6:35-7:04 I never thought about this, but you make a strikingly good point. Of all the enemies in Darkest Dungeon, Brigands don't really have a reason to stick around. They are not native to a territory like the pellagic creatures nor results of an experiment like swine folk, both cases who have nowhere else to go. They are not motivated by power or worship like the cultists or the Hag's Coven. Brigands are not like The Undying Army of The Ruins, who simply guard The Ancestral Castle against invaders and trespassers like they did during their lifetime simply because a master necromancer resurrected them and told them to do it without giving additional instructions. Brigands are not cursed to eternally roam and drown like the mariners. They are not victims like the inhabitants of the farmstead, which in my opinion have suffered the cruelest fate in the game. A desperate attempt to preserve their livelihood ended up them all getting enslaved and bound to an eldritch monster and it's domain for all eternity, just because a certain local man decided to be himself. Even a misguided and jaded attempt to do the right thing like in the case of The Fanatic doesn't motivate, nor twisted and corrupt hedonism like Crimson Court. Greed and Revenge also seem unlikely motivations, for the reasons you pointed out. To make this even more bizarre, Brigands have not even tried to fill Estate's power vacuum left by Ancestor's little trick. When the heir arrives, Hamlet is completely unoccupied by an authority figure and local Constabulary is trying it's best to keep some semblence of order while lacking resources, manpower and centralized/strong leadership to stop a group like Brigands from simply taking over The Estate and ruling it as they see fit. They could easily leave searching for a new employer or places to rob/spend loot, yet they choose to remain in this hell-hole of a forgotten world corner. Their motivations are a mystery, one that remains unsolved along with Hamlet's situation.

[@jshwck4210]

The hamlet is a place without order. We don't know if the surrounding lands are maintained well, or if these people are hunted for bounty. For every adventurer arriving at the town, i would bet, are multiple robbed and or killed.

[@Kropothead]

@@jshwck4210 The way I read it, there’s a lot of traffic on the Old Road, as well as untold lost wealth to be taken from adventurers returning to the Hamlet. Why delve dangerous ruins for loot when when you can pick it off a foolish explorer’s corpse?

[@ypsawbones3646]

@@Kropothead yet you see brigands everywhere even for example in the ruins or the cove what they are doing there ? do they search for gold and bubles in those forsaken places just like our people do is it self defense and in an ironic twist they clean the roads and other places from monsters in order to be safe from whatever abominations think they are good prey or is it simply those faraway groups are exiles from the main group being so monstrous that even the other cuttthroats dont want them

[@bosskaiju4834]

I think the Thing under the Darkest Dungeon is subtly influencing their mind so that they stay to kill and slaughter more people and cause more pain in the Hamlet. This place is cursed and honestly, I don't know if it's really possible to escape those lands once you are inside.

[@Chris-jl6vp]

They're probably just being forcibly kept there by Vvulf to keep scouring the hamlet and any routes through or close to it.

[@alienalchemist]

You call throwing bombs around a martial art? Vvulf: Hey as long it's works.

[@jp1116]

Vvulf is so annoying to fight sometimes Sometimes you get lucky and end him quickly sometimes its a 20 round fight but I love him all the same Your voice acting and sound design is so beautiful

[@tombrasch3387]

Ya know, my first play through the brigand vvulf was my first real "OH NO!" moment in the game. A boss attacking the place that was supposed to be safe simply offended me, i took my best people to deal with him even tho i had no idea what i was getting into. It was so surreal fighting in the hamlet on the scale of our heroes. Every fight was desperate so when we finally got to vvulf... long story short i lost three characters i named after close friends of mine so when i saw the boss come back i became a war counselor against this idiot. We destroyed him. But not before taking another one of my heroes. Which made it a bittersweet experience. Most memorable boss for me getting his story was really cool to wake up to.😋👍keep up the good work miskatonic

[@sebastiangibson9671]

Ah a fellow person who names hero’s after their friends

[@UndeadGary]

Pretty much the same for my first encounter, lost all 4 of my fully kitted and level capped party, first complete wipe of the game. Mistakes were made. I honestly kind of feel like an idiot that I didn’t think to shuffle my characters around to avoid the bomb damage the first time through, compared to other bosses he really isn’t that bad but yet he still managed to do the most damage to my hamlet. Made shit personal. Brought a strong single target damage party with shuffling actions and equipped with man slaying relics the next time. Made quick work of Vvulf that time. Fool me once and all that jazz.

[@MM-bn4rl]

When your videos come out its like a small holiday, with the real high-quality content

[@kelvinferreira3767]

Excellent work, as usual! Short, but sweet and clear exposition of the little lore we have. It's always lovely to see a video that doesn't devolve into an insecure babbling of "We don't know enough", nor into an improductive crafting of hypothesis. You really do an outstanding job with very limited resources. Now, this one sparked a little idea in me. It might be wrong, as I have never refreshed the game's lore beyond your works, all thanks to a nearly finished run being lost forever (I still remember only the ancestor was to be defeated to complete every task in the game). But alas, the idea: What if the bandits stay because the Ancestor doesn't allow them to leave? We, as a player, pick our battles, receive guidance and support. Our actions serve the Ancestor's cause; our victories, to an extent, are his. Brigands do not have that luxury. Where we ought to send heroes to fight and die for the Heart, the Brigands get to be a steady supply of blood, hatred and flesh. We don't get assaulted night and day by armies upon armies of the most powerful beasts in the manor because it'd lead nowhere, but what is gained from letting the Brigands go? Why not block their path with horrors reserved for only our moments of greatest glory? And besides, where would the Brigands go? To fight their way through the darkness and horror, just to fight again and again, war after war, for money or to avoid paying for their crimes. It must be rough and terrifying, honestly, to end in such a horrid low life, just to end up a sacrifice for powers far beyond the edge of a blade or the end of a gun barrel.

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

Thank you for the kind words, and yeah there isn't much about the Brigands to pull from so I just stuck to what we know, rather than come up with some crazy theories. But one that I've heard about Vvulf is that he's actually an agent for the Heart since he doesn't have any particular reason to attack the town other than to slaughter more heroes, and delay our progress. Moreover he has the Iron Crown on his shield, which is, among other things, a symbol for the Eldritch.

[@kelvinferreira3767]

@@MiskatonicMemorialist Makes sense, after all, the cultist we see actively put their lives in the line and perform unspeakable atrocities to gain the Heart's blessing. It stands to reason that, when it wants, the Heart might pull some strings on individuals that otherwise would be fully human.

[@lorenzoreali592]

I'm preparing a DD themed campaign for DnD and your videos are giving me a lot of help. Thank you so much, the video is awesome likes usual. Geetings from Italy 👋🏻

[@genokugel]

Ma che figo, non sapevo ci fossero gentiluomini così acculturati nel mio paese

[@lucasrafael2492]

Same bro

[@mofire5674]

This channel is going to be super useful for my darkest dungeon inspired D&D games I have planned. Well done my good sir!

[@nikitamaximovich4196]

I actually based one of my long-running campaign arches on the events of Darkest Dungeon, tho added a bit of twist to it. :D In me version of events, the heir to the Ancestor did reclaim and renovated the estate, but he did so to reclaim the family honor and cut down a coven of hags ruling the nearby city. The city is now governed by the Countess (yes, from the Crimson Court one), but she's on speaking terms with the heir (I called him Diego de Cerveira, cuz I like the ring to that name) - mostly because Diego has struck a pact with the being from the Far Realm - think Primus of the modrones cranked to 12 in the department of law, logic and reason - and so Countess does weigh her risks. Sadly, Diego's great-grandfather was the real Ancestor, who started dis shite, and Diego, being the governor of the liberated city, has to stick to the estate, placating his patron and not allowing the Heart of the World to gestate, much to dismay of his great-gramps. The Collector in this figgamajig eas Diego's close friend and apprentice, that he had to sacrifice, so that his patron could understand the concept of material universe. The mind of the man is now held as a conduit and interpreter between Diego and his eldritch patron, while his body became the Collector, cuz Far Realm is a realm, where the mind trumps matter at all times. Since our run to the Darkest Dungeon-themed arch the characters became much stronger (think like they were of 6-7 lvls back then and now most of them approach lvl 20), so I believe it'll be damn gud to pit them against all that is in stock of Darkest Dungeon - The Sleeper, the Darkest Dungeon denizens and the heart. Damn I yearn to see their faces when they realize the lies they lived - and most of all, that Diego bet it all on a false premise, cuz they've grown to like the man real much.

[@pyrrhusofepirus8491]

The biggest question about Darkest Dungeon for me, is what time period would this roughly be? We have pistols, muskets, artillery etc. But we also have Crusaders wielding long swords and plate armour. I presume one of two things, probably both, A. Humans in this world are just tougher then real humans, and as they get stronger they literally get stronger and tougher, or B. Armour is just tougher in this world. This is still a game, so for the sake of variety I’m down for guns, my explanation is just the best I could come up with for a lore reason why.

[@coullx1708]

The fact that Vulve protects his minions makes me think that he’s a good boss.

[@sebastiangibson9671]

Wonder what’s the pay

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

@@sebastiangibson9671 I guess the Genghis Khan method. All found loot is collected and distributed equally.

[@azismeretlen2582]

Darkest dungeon 2 lore videos would be nice too!

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

Not yet. Still have some work to do in DD1. But one day soon.

[@lukadubak7476]

It is absolutely mind boggling that you don't have more subscribers. like you're the only dd lore channel on yt. and dd lore while not being as subtle as some fromsoft titles, is definitely close.

[@dndhat]

its not the "pounder" it is the "16 pounder" as in a cannon that shoots a 16 pound ball... a HUGE size of cannon ball! It is just a really big gun, several really big guns.

[@tablomqvist]

Love all your Darkest Dungeon content. Will you be making a lore video about the Shrieker? It’s quite unique and I haven’t seen any other content from you about it.

[@GlueEater-ix9gl]

Once again, T H A N K S O L D M A N

[@afasdfasafd314]

amazing, like all your other videos!

[@finnmchugh99]

I can only imagine after doing lore of the remaining bosses n stuff you'd descend into madness that is Darkest Dungeon 2

[@tablomqvist]

Thank you for making this video. I’ve been waiting for it for awhile now so great! What are your next plans for videos about Darkest Dungeon?

[@harrietr.5073]

Very interesting idea, that Humans (along with other animals?) can take stress dmg.

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

Humans yeah, but the animals idk. Most already seem rabid, so they probably are going on pure survival instinct.

[@heyguysiguessthatsit4610]

🙏🙏🙏 Finally i was waiting for this

[@paolobucci2761]

you will you never do this same type of videos for darkest dungeon 2 or do a video about ghouls and\or cultists in darkest dungeon 1?

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

DD2 Brigands, maybe depending on if they get more fleshed out and more road bosses. Ghouls, not so much, no real in universe knowledge on them. DD1 Cultists, absolutely, given how tied they are with the dungeon I can't not bring them up.

[@user-fr2qk9op8t]

This is way too high quality for so few subs. Thank you algorithm.

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm much like a Darkest Dungeon character, struggling against forces beyond our comprehensive (the ALGORITHM)

[@sebastiangibson9671]

I like to think they are outcasts exiles of the town because that would make good motivation to destroy the town

[@iceking4773]

loved the video :D

[@noahmcchicken1228]

The pounder☠️

[@badbuddy0934]

pounder is very EZ!

[@diooverheaven6561]

Early probably one of the first