The Primal Knight

[@El_Dissident]

Will the elephant forget when he goes hollow 🤔

[@ruynobrega6918]

Real question here

[@ПетрПустота-з2х]

he certainly won't forgive

[@glorbog]

Yes

[@BlueAsterismSolstice]

I feel like that's a lore reason why they're elephants.

[@wispfire2545]

@@BlueAsterismSolstice They were an attempt at circumventing hollowing... because elephants don't forget? That's brilliant! I love it! :D

[@battedbook5811]

I never noticed that the hollow ones had completely different animations. I just though they looked damaged.

[@EchoBravo]

The hollow one looks so tired

[@filipporapetti9354]

Yes, like it can barely even stand on its own legs and has to use its halberd as a crutch, poor thing

[@s2korpionic]

"I'm tired boss"

[@Soulute367]

Bro needs a nap

[@CadavresSansNom]

Tired? Looks f'n blasted to me.

[@Nomans_Nomen]

Mood

[@TheRagnus]

DS2 vets know the Mastodon Halberd these guys drop hit like a freight train, and was arguably one of the best weapons for a strength build.

[@Nomans_Nomen]

The lingering animations after every hit allowed you to delay nearly every part of the moveset, like up to two or three seconds where you could buffer and launch the next part of an attack string almost instantly. I would throw out 2H R1 feints from neutral like throwing out a fishing line, then the follow up would come out when they charged in for a punish, so fast nobody could react to it. A follow up two hit stun form a lightning infused/buffed Mastodon Halberd, (which does WAY WAY more damage than strength) using a faith lightning hybrid build, was all it took to finish most people. Nobody figured out how to deal with feints after days of PvP, hundreds fell on Iron Keep Bridge. Not sure I took a single loss before getting bored of how easy it was. Really sad that future From games don't really have any other weapon types with insane delayable animation buffer traps like that, other than some others within DS2. Feints opened up a whole other world of PvP, a world no one else was prepared for, and a world unique to DS2's fight system.

[@mossthey]

@@Nomans_Nomen the most bizarre thing to me about DS2 was how they just randomly decided to get PvP right and then never again

[@Half-Vampire]

dont forget about the armor, look badass!

[@painkiller9860]

Facts

[@ricochet2880]

Man the nostalgia...

[@aboveaveragecat44]

I always loved the design of these guys. They’re so imposing when you first see them

[@chaoticstarfish3401]

They're certainly less imposing once you hit them with the Strafe Souls 2

[@rogerarayasaborio549]

I allways disliked them because they look way too silly for the fantasy style of dark souls. Kinda like a god of war enemy. This is why Ds2 never quite fits in the trilogy.

[@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub]

⁠@@rogerarayasaborio549I like ds2, it brought so much life to the dark souls universe. Made it feel like an actual world with inhabitants and kingdoms. Taking it out would make the dark souls lore a lot more boring.

[@rogerarayasaborio549]

@@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub I usually ignore 2 when I tink on Ds lore, its kind of irrelevant and clearly not properly connected to the wolrd of 1/3.

[@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub]

@@rogerarayasaborio549 yea but it did a much better job at showing the passage of time. I love how the world flourished and moved on from the events of ds1 to the point Gwyns name isn’t even remembered. Ds3 lore is just “remember this thing? It’s important again somehow, but not really cuz it’s dead/dying anyways”

[@LautrecOfCarim]

I wouldn't mind seeing these guys return in Nightreign as some kind of ancient crucible knight variant. Also, Heh.

[@DragonGunzDorian]

Honestly. That'd be pretty sick, or even just an allusion to them with crucible knight's that use "aspect of the crucible: tusks", or something like that where they'd charge you with spectral, golden elephant tucks.

[@RashFever26]

That would be very cool. DS2 definitely has the most creative enemies who could fit in Nightreign

[@nbmoleminer5051]

We should've got that from Gaius's Boar!

[@dirckthedork-knight1201]

YES! That would be an awesome idea it would actually fit with the ridiculously non matching enemy selection that the trailer showed!

[@DarkMark-cf1ec]

@@DragonGunzDorian "axe handle" wrestling move with a ghostly mammoth trampling on an enemy would be cool

[@AThing0]

Never knew the older looking knights were hollowed. Thats terrifying and sad at the same time. Its a shame we never see a sword wielding variant.

[@chaoticstarfish3401]

I didn't either, but only because I've always presumed that only humans could go hollow. Do these mammoths also seek fire? Rats and dogs look Undead since the first game, but I stopped associating their look with proper hollowing since I learned that hollows are true humans, and Gwyn's curse on Humanity is what causes hollowing in the first place. If other animals are clearly not human, why did Gwyn curse them too?

[@sird31mos]

@@chaoticstarfish3401 Being Hollow is just lacking a unified, identity-bearing soul. Theoretically, any being can Hollow. Humans become Hollow through the influence of the Darksign, but Gwyn himself is quite Hollow after a millennium of fueling the First Flame. The exact mechanics of Undeath have always been vague, but I believe the suggestion with dogs and rats is that they've consumed enough human bodies to accrue Humanity and thence become Undead. In DS2, many animalistic or deformed enemies are stated or implied to be the products of Vendrick and Aldia experimenting with souls, so my assumption is that Primal Knights are humans who have been augmented in that way.

[@chaoticstarfish3401]

@@sird31mos My first thought was that they were formerly human and the result of Aldia's experiments; turning humans into other creatures to escape the curse, only for them to hollow regardless - then I remembered the dogs and rats, and that, with the uncharted world of the franchise, these bipedal mammoth warriors might as well exist on their own. Regarding the overall concept of hollowing: I suppose what confuses me most is the implication, in the first game, that "the Darksign brands the Undead" as a response to the Fire fading, tying Undeath to the Darksign, specifically. And if the Darksign was only cast upon Humanity, and death/ressurection is what causes hollowing (else, how would you lose your souls?), it's natural to conclude that humans are the only ones that could go hollow.

[@GuardianOwl]

@@chaoticstarfish3401humans also thought the Sun revolved around the Earth. You always have to remember who is the author of text you are using as lore. The item description Scholar is generally a straight shooter unless he is using qualifying language like “it is said” for example. That’s not an objective fact, more like public opinion. When a character ingame speaks on a subject they may have imperfect knowledge or be intentionally lying. That info about the how the public understands the curse to work comes from a narrator that is likely a person with imperfect knowledge. As we learn from Kaathe in DS1, the legend of the Chosen Undead is a lie to make the undead that burns themself to ash feel special so they will continue the age of fire willingly. We learn more from Aldia in DS2 that he believes DS1 hollowing is kind of a perversion of the Darksign wielders’ natural state of being. We were immortal badasses of the Dark that Gwyn feared, and so sealed us in a yoke of warm mortality which turns us “human” and to age normally. He sealed the mask closed with the dark sign and powered the transformation by linking it to the power of the First Flame. Where I believe it goes wrong is when the Fire begins to fade, the spell can no longer be maintained, and the “human” mask begins to crack. We return to our true undead state. But to continue its existence, the First Flame reverses the link and begins to suck soul power from us to keep the Flame going and that’s why we go hollow. To explain creatures hollowing, think of the First Flame as a powerful Bluetooth enabled device. Humans have the darksign which is an easy tether so the First Flame finds them easily to pair to and begin extraction. It is so desperate for power it also looks for similar wireless standards to connect and drain. A pig or rat or dog, etc. kills enough humans and ingests enough undead blood, the First Flame finds it and pairs with it and starts draining it.

[@sird31mos]

@simonediblasi8950 This is just a straightforward misunderstanding of what's even happening when a person goes Hollow, but your apparent need to correct me on the Primal Knights by declaring the exact thing I said about them tells me I shouldn't try to walk you through it.

[@mon0light]

i wouldn't have noticed the difference in their stances if it weren't for this video, these warriors are fascinating

[@DOOMHAMMER-XIII]

They and the Lion Warriors are some of the most interestingly designed enemies I've seen, with them and the Corvians it gives me the impression that in the world of "Dark Souls" there are many Animalmen races that we haven't seen before.

[@conan2096]

they were made by aldia, like the turtle knights. there are doubtless more races, since we know about gyrm, but mastadons and lion men are artificial. theres a good chance they cant breed. the bird people have been round since 1 though.

[@ÁvalosSánchezJuanPablo]

Snakemens From Dark Souls 1

[@conan2096]

​@@ÁvalosSánchezJuanPablo theres no lore saying they were made. not sure where they would have come from since the whole game takes place on an archtree, but they could have been brought over from another one by the gods.

[@qwopiretyu]

​@@conan2096 I always thought they were made by Seath? You find em in Dukes Archives. They also show up in Sen's Fortress but Seath has good reason to keep bell ringers out of Anor Londo

[@metroidhunter2861]

Even hollowed out, it still remembers its training to loosen its grip and hold close to the bottom of the halberd for the downward strikes

[@ilovecody7514]

DS2 really has some of the coolest designs when it comes to enemies.

[@__-be1gk]

Imagine unironically thinking this

[@Amber-Hazel-Mint-777]

​@@__-be1gkImagine unironically being another ds2 hater. The amount of artistic creativity and unique designs in ds2 is massive and deserves to be praised. If you can't appreciate it, don't bring down those who do. It's just rude.

[@Noizzed]

@@__-be1gk I mean as an artist the visual designs are pretty interesting sometimes. Just look at the Demon of Song. Sadly, however, the problem with DS2's enemy design is that it overdoes the 'guy with a sword' archetype. Most of the memorable bosses of DS2 are just that. Alonne, Fume Knight, Mirror Knight, Lloyd, Velstadt. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a problem if their movesets weren't so limited and similar to each other as well. Edit: Yes i know Velstadt has that bell-hammer, that is not the point.

[@thebignigga69420]

​@@Noizzed Look at the other souls games , they do the exact same and probably more than DS2 , don't single it out and ignore it when the other do the same .

[@EXFrost]

​​@@Noizzedi dont really mind "man with sword" cus they were always my favourite kind of boss fights, just a classic duel to the death. Theres like 2 maybe 4 knight boss fights in ds1 so the abundance in ds2 makes sense. and theres still some awesome non-knight bosses in ds2 (Demon of song, covetous demon, etc). The moveset similarity is an issue tho

[@hephesto555666]

Never even noticed these was a regular and a hollow variant, very cool!

[@dynomight3855]

I actually liked the Primal Knights their armor was pretty cool and can be mixed with other sets for some neat Fashion Souls sets.

[@hewhoshallnotbenamed5168]

DS2 really did have the best Fashion Souls out of all From games.

[@GurenPlasma]

When the Knight is Primal

[@undefined6512]

When the Genndy is Tartakovsky

[@drpeepee05]

When the Demon is Covetous

[@OnMyLunchBreak07]

When the king is nameless

[@a.s.raiyan2003-4]

When the Dong is Semoning

[@Монс-й1ь]

When the comment is SUS

[@khashygeld9776]

What i love about ds2 is its art direction, despite the graphics not looking so good,the games art direction makes up for the graphics

[@mothmantis0708]

They're weird connections, but the guardian golems in the Artorias DLC have elephant feet, as does the impaled prisoner enemy guarding the entrance to the Chasm. Apart from anatomical differences, these guys' armor is almost identical to the Syan set if you're looking for an alternate cape for either set.

[@jesse3086]

The Elephants and big Hippo-guys always scared the shit out of me. IDK why them specifically but even after killing hundreds of them over my life, they still fill me with unease and dread looking at them.

[@ViolacTrough]

Everybody gangsta ‘til the snoot dooters go full on trunkery funkery.

[@MLH9777]

“Here’s your Reddit gold!” Ahh comment

[@John_Helldiver]

@@MLH9777 tell me you’re unhappily married without telling me you’re unhappily married… 😆😂🤣

[@lukesesh]

epic comment sir! Here, have some updoots!

[@glorbog]

This makes no sense. It was a dumb comment op made​@@John_Helldiver

[@KaptainKommissar]

holy reddit

[@CthulhuianBunny]

Chancellor Wellager: My liege, why make your knights look this way? Vendrick: Because elephants are fucking cool!

[@Demokaze]

That sigil on their cape almost looks like a variation of the haligtree sigil

[@weeville]

The fact that their COVERED in gold always reminded me of tree Sentinels or some such, I hope they return in nightreign because they'd fit right in

[@navilluscire2567]

I could definitely see Miquella having these guys in his service as he welcomed all into his 'compassionate' embrace.

[@weeville]

​@@navilluscire2567imagine a world where joining miquella made the haligtree area function like the Doors of pharros, so none of the enemy's aggro on you. God I wish😭😭🙏

[@navilluscire2567]

@weeville Ah but that would require sacrificing the maditory requirements of having epic duels or the 'enjoyment' of gank squads that must be present in every area of a Soulsborne game. Like imagine Knight Loretta seeing like a seal from Miquella if you could somehow join his cause, like if you went to the Shadowlands before the haligtree and swore fealty. *Ex.* Tarnished: **presenting seal of Miquella** Knight Loretta: M-My lord...hath thou returned, ye tarnished bearing his seal? How utterly strange...yet if true tis my duty to abide, you may pass freely tarnished... **No fight, and can even talk to her about potentially interesting lore bits or quests**

[@Nova-Franconia]

Even though they don't actually wield it themselves, the Mastodon Greatsword that they sometimes drop is probably one of the best looking Greatswords in all Soulsborne to date. It doesn't look too fantasy-ish but just right with the brass/golden accents on it. Well, imo at least.

[@hewhoshallnotbenamed5168]

I love these guys. Their design is cool and unique, plus they're super fun to fight and parry. DS2 is truly underrated when it comes to enemy design, haters be damned.

[@John_Helldiver]

entirely agree

[@luxnitegd2706]

I used to remember my first time seeing them running towards me at full speed... It was horrifying...

[@DylanDecepticon]

I loved these guys I’m sad they never did more like them. Elden ring had a lot of beast men but more variety in animal types

[@yokusaimaru]

i love ds2 design so much. Too bad ds3 didn't bring us many from ds2😢

[@e8u4a8n7]

Really gives me King's Field vibes.

[@John_Helldiver]

🙂‍↕️ 🙂‍↕️ 🙂‍↕️

[@EtherealNature]

I heard in interviews that Miyazaki keeps Magic: the Gathering cards at his desk. I understand he didn't have a lot of involvement in DS2, but i can imagine someone on the team looking through his cards and getting inspired by a loxodon.

[@danprentice7073]

I love the fact that Aldia probably made these and the lion knights when he was board. Also love to see him try and sell the idea for these things to Vendrick.

[@filipporapetti9354]

"Vendrick we simply must put mammoth heads on these warriors, they'll make them so much more effective!" "...the fuck is a mammoth, Aldia?"

[@iboofer]

Aldia's African Safari We've got lion guys Elephant guys AND hippo guys! Oh my!

[@LabTech41]

They're clearly derived from Humans, since only Humans can go hollow.

[@filipporapetti9354]

@@LabTech41 True, as do the Lion warriors

[@a.s.raiyan2003-4]

Now I'm imagining Aldia doing the Will Smith pose as he proudly shows his brother his little science experiment.

[@lucasmuniz5263]

Huge Conan vibes

[@lexmarovsky6667]

An ancient pre-human civilization...

[@felipeazevedo840]

Indeed. This is the kind of thing we would see in a Conan story, as he goes to somewhere far from normal civilization

[@whoisj]

sound design is everything and they've hit it out of the park.

[@MKVProcrastinator]

I thought they were called Mastodons?

[@Amber-Hazel-Mint-777]

Likely a difference in lore names and the names in their character files in the games code.

[@justsolcastle406]

The weapons and armor are named “mastodon (x)” but the item descriptions say that they’re wielded by “Primal Knights”

[@dirckthedork-knight1201]

Same here the armour the drop is called Mastodon armour so i assumed they were called Mastodon knights

[@Envy1359]

ELEPHANT MAMMOTH.

[@frozi1541]

Haha that knight goes trÖÖt.

[@Parasomnia1]

He got side boss potential

[@MrJinglejanglejingle]

One of my favorite designs, honestly.

[@2dmajor999]

Another Berzerk reference thank you Michael zakson

[@justinriley4063]

Hope to see these guys again in Night Reign

[@pockystyx4087]

such a cool design. I love a lot of the weird enemies dks2 came up with.

[@General_Lunacy]

I always loved the look of these guys.

[@Dogyphil]

I hope this model comes back in a later game like a lot of old fromsoft enemies do. Elephant knight is one of my favorite enemies from dks2

[@eglewether5523]

Hollow version is drunk as hell Why is their nose so perfectly stiff xD

[@stingerjohnny9951]

I always called them mastodon warriors, but Primal Knight is a pretty dope moniker

[@SmileytheSmile]

This knight must've played Far Cry Primal so much...

[@RyanMathews-ld7hi]

Jesus the hollow design is too good. Thank you for making this video 100 hrs in ds2 and I never noticed.

[@umukzusgelos4834]

over a 1000 hours spent in this game and yet I never noticed that the Hollow Variant of this enemy has completely different animations

[@Kreobero]

Dark souls 2 has some very weird but interesting enemies

[@JazzyJoyboy]

It would be pretty cool for Nightreign to include these and many other enemies in an updated capacity!

[@nerfer200]

The hollow ones really seem to be flailing their weapons around while the normal one has precise strikes. Very cool!

[@thedoctorofcringe05]

Always loved these knights

[@junkyporpoise4254]

One of my favourite designs in all of Souls, the elephant hybrid goes so hard.

[@darthvaderbutwayshittier7054]

My favourite part is all the clipping.

[@blizzardgaming7070]

Try to slander DS2 all you want, it always kept you engaged with something new. Defeat a scorpions sorceress at the end of a cursed forrest, walk through a cave and find ancient ruins populated by Mammoth Knights.

[@wealthybone2990]

I was so confused of these enemies but there are an interesting looking enemy I'd say and also kinda cool. Also don't remember a hollow version of this knight but nice to see it.

[@andrewler13theundeadwarrior]

*Elephant buddha.*

[@littlebeasty5839]

Hollow variant got a bit of swag in his walking

[@THEbROCKol]

I always assumed their moveset was identical, never noticed the differences! They look much more thought out than most enemies in ds2. Maybe they were worked on before they had to rush development

[@Shaftronics]

The Souls series has always taken inspiration from other sources of media. In this case, the Primal Knights and Lion Knights seem to be inspired from the Loxodon and Leonin races from MTG.

[@CourtlySeaDog]

ds2 has the best and most faithful design and aesthetic to older fromsoft titles, I feel like its a love letter to King's field with how similar Vendrick's story is to the plot of King's Field 4

[@biluv]

i always thought the hollow and regular versions were just a reskin, its so cool to see the different animations

[@messyroomguy1536]

I like seeing this video of showcasing Dark Souls Enemies, and I never realized there was different kinds of the Primal Knight! Hope to see more videos like this, and definitely earned a sub from me!

[@corporeal5980]

Having never played all the way through DS2 I had never seen these guys, theyre so cool!

[@panikadamddam6871]

These are cool af

[@Nomans_Nomen]

For when you run out of dudes in armor. Then there is animals in armor.

[@PapaGlopp]

They walk like someone trying to make it to the bathroom before they shit their pants, And someone who failed to make it in time and just needs to get there to wipe up the mess

[@redgarlicbred6228]

Huh, never noticed the difference between these two in game. Didn't even know there was a hollowed version

[@ManiCavalieri]

i never even knew these guys had a hollow form

[@weeville]

Always loved these fellas, this game helped me thru the toughest time in my life yet and the doors of pharros always felt like a real comfort in an odd way, like the only area where the monsters allow you to rest with them(barring youre in the rat covenant.) Id love to see them again in Elden Ring NR. Their something between the crucible and golden order, it would be interesting to see a collective of knights who are being like "redeemed" for their beastman nature so they wear and weild gold. Also while were at it give us that Halberd back i mean that thing cleaned house on a strength build god damn.

[@ezequielin5058]

I Think They Share Sounds With The Lion Warriors In Shaded Woods

[@a.s.raiyan2003-4]

I was aware that the Primal Knights were made by Aldia, but didn't know even they were susceptible to hollowing because they were still human

[@dgalloway107]

mastodon greatsword my beloved.

[@Alexander-Calix]

the hollow primal knight loosk like he's possing like a JoJo character :D

[@YOURteacher_100]

One the coolest armour sets

[@derpyt772]

He fights for truth justice and peanuts

[@painkiller9860]

This dudes always reminds me of the giants of Anor Londo

[@JensJackson-yp8vs]

monday morning mastodon

[@NPC_YouTube]

That hallowed one is just drunk off estus

[@RelativelyBest]

I really liked the armor set you got from these guys, it was basically WH40K Custodes cosplay. I love golden armor and I like super-heavy armor that doesn't make you look stupid. (Which is unfortunately fairly typical in FromSoft games.) Really wish it had made a return in DS3. Anyway, the Primal Knights were pretty scary at first until I remembered that giant enemies in Dark Souls are basically always very slow and easily outmaneuvered.

[@TheDoubleA86]

Never noticed there were two variants of it!

[@TaineWatling]

Very cool music choice, I felt it suited some alternative universe ds2, with a setting that connected to these dudes designs

[@leonardorodrigues827]

There are enemies in the on ds2 that I find very interesting like the Lion Claws Warriors, which would make great warriors misbegotten in Elden Ring along with the Primal Knights. Another one that I find interesting is the Stone Knights With a knight's head, I always imagined what it would be like if there was a part of the castle like a giant chessboard that the pieces came to life as pawns, rooks, bishops, horses , king and queen , it would be pretty cool.

[@Silver_Lloyd]

Actually just brought back so many memories of one shotting people with their halberd, It’s backstabs are particularly nasty iirc.

[@alexandrosstavrou4224]

Also, Mastodon Halberd hits like train

[@wolvenedvard3049]

Dropped the best halberd in the game alongside Syan’s halberd.

[@thaliuswarborn1148]

if you were around for launch patch of darksouls2 you *knew* how absurd the halberd these guys use was no joke it prolly surpassed crystal buffed Moonlight GS if you hit the sweetspot, absolute insanity.

[@GregTingus]

huh I didn't even realize there were two variants

[@bluebird2217]

It would have been cool if they can be found in the giants memories.

[@christianmartires729]

Poor dude just needs to sit down.

[@sirdrell24]

Wish they had a 'berserker' variant, one that's shirtless and unarmed, just does grab attacks and wrestling moves and shit

[@alastor8091]

I didn't ecen notice there were 2 variants. I was too busy trying to run away from them.

[@jarb3018]

I thought that was an OG God of War track at the beginning of the video

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

There are elephant humanoid enemies in God of War Ascension that are really cool too!

[@sanctherion4468]

Reminds me a lot of the elephant men in God of War Ascension. The Primal's animations also make a good use of the trunk as a weapon. Maybe I'll someday revisit and beat both Dark Souls 2 and God of War Ascension. Played them about a decade ago and left both unfinished, Dark Souls 2 for its punishing max HP reduction every death, and GoW Ascension for feeling like an inferior copy of GoW 3 (my favorite in the series).

[@pablosantos2063]

I always used this armor for My builds . I always farmed the guys at Dragleic Castle. Had the poise and defense stat in armor been better in Dark souls 2 this armor would have been like the giant armor in DS1

[@Graedius]

The question I always wondered was, Humans were notable for being the only things that could go hollow. But these Elephant people can go Hollow. So what the hell are they??

[@thefranticpaceofdying]

Love these guys

[@weeville]

OH MY GOD THE EMAIL WENT THROUGH OMG THANK YOU BONFIRE VN THAN YOUUUU

[@weeville]

I'm actually so happy we spoke to eachother on email about inspecting this enemy and he said he'd keep it in mind, this is making me irrationally happy right now

[@BlueAsterismSolstice]

I wanted their tusks on me also with their armor. Would have been cool.

[@heirapparent8217]

Between these and the lion men I’ve always wondered if they backed out of doing an African zone.

[@ORLY911]

Might be specifically a reference to Roman themes, as they were known to Romans and used in the colosseum. DS2 has a lot of clear Roman influence in design of certain areas, NPCs/enemies and music. Executioners Chariot and the arena is the big obvious one, there's also the Ruin Sentinels, Velstadt, and the Dlc area knights who have that more antiquity style to their armor. Then there's Pate who looks like a legionnaire. So honestly yeah u might be into something.

[@heirapparent8217]

@@ORLY911 Yeah that’s a good catch. I can believe it.

[@dirckthedork-knight1201]

​@@ORLY911Hmmm interesting i can see it with the Chariot but i am not really seeing with Velstadt

[@labeilleautiste6318]

Omg a dark souls 2 video lets ggooo

[@greenhowie]

It's a shame the equippable helm doesn't have a big ol' nose. You could say it was... truncated.