The Dark Souls series is primarily known for its brutally difficult bosses, and there are dozens of them spread across three games. But which of them is actually the strongest? MeinMMO’s Souls expert Christos Tsogos examines the big bosses and assigns them ranks.
How is this ranking determined? This ranking does not consider only the pure gameplay of the bosses, meaning how difficult a boss is to defeat. Instead, it evaluates how powerful the bosses are according to their lore and story.
Even though Dark Souls is mainly known for its gameplay, there is a huge world behind the games, full of story that fans gather in absurdly large databases. The ranking is derived from descriptions of items, dialogues with NPCs, and quests.
Who is writing this?
MeinMMO author Christos Tsogos has been exploring the lore of Dark Souls since the release of the first part. Through fan theories, lore videos, and summaries of all the information, Christos has acquired a wealth of background knowledge. Enough to be able to determine which of the bosses from Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3 are truly powerful.
In doing so, only their theoretical strengths as well as their power and influence in the world are taken into account. Our ranking invites you to engage in discussions. If you disagree, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
These are the strongest:
- Rank 10: Black Dragon Kalameet (Dark Souls 1)
- Rank 9: Midir (Dark Souls 3)
- Rank 8: Chaos Creature of Izalith (Dark Souls 1)
- Rank 7: Nameless King (Dark Souls 3)
- Rank 6: Burnt White King (Dark Souls 2)
Rank 5: Manus, Father of the Abyss (Dark Souls 1)
Manus is a central boss and character in the events of the DLC of Dark Souls 1. He is responsible for Oolacile falling victim to the abyss. He corrupted all the inhabitants and the surrounding land with the power of darkness and resides in the deepest part of the city.
Once, Manus was a human sorcerer. In fact, his remains rested in a grave beneath Oolacile, but the sorcerers of the city found and eventually tortured him. The reason for this is not entirely clear. Theories suggest that he was one of the dwarf princes who received a piece of the Dark Soul from the stealthy dwarf.
How powerful Manus is becomes clear in his handling of the Dark Soul: in his rage he unleashed the abyss and has thereby destroyed a large part of Lordran. Despite the strongest knights of Gwyn, such as Gough and Artorias, Manus could not be defeated and continued to conquer the surrounding area.
The abyss is endless, and although Manus could not control it, he could at least summon it as a weapon and pose a threat to the gods, who otherwise gaze fearlessly upon their enemies. Without the protagonist from Dark Souls 1, the abyss would have spread further.
His strengths lie primarily in sorcery, but Manus can also deal powerful blows in melee combat. Additionally, he has the ability to warp space and time to bring the protagonist into the past, which is rather unusual, but speaks for his power.
Next up is Rank 4 on page 2.
