Freja

Freja, also known as The Duke's Dear Freja, is a major antagonist and boss in Dark Souls II.

Biography
Brightstone Cove Tseldora was once a mining town under rule by Duke Tseldora, who had an obsession with spiders, his favorite being Freja. Referred to as the Writhing Ruin's Keeper, Freja was once a solitary arachnid. But from the twisted souls she feasted on, Freja grew in power and became a tyrant of Tseldora. The soul that Freja ate was the Old Paledrake Soul, believed to belong to the twisted Paledrake of Lordran: Seath the Scaleless.

Just like Seath, Freja became envious for dragons, making her nest inside one dragon's corpse. From the soul and the dragon corpse she ate, Freja mutated and grew gigantic in size, with a second head growing from her back. She sent her offspring minions to scout out more food for her to consume, scaring away the citizens of Tseldora, the residents who stayed were either reduced to hollows or were made into parasitic hosts. The abundance of hollows allowed the Prowling Magus to set up in a church and brainwash the hollow residents to become his Congregation to conduct his sinister rituals.

Before the Bearer of the Curse engages with Freja, she is briefly encountered on a cliff outside Prowling Magus' church, where she sends out her spider minions after the player. In New Game Plus runs, Freja rather stays on the cliff and fire lasers until enough time has passed or if she took enough damage, capping out on half of her health.

In her chamber, Freja feasts on the dragon corpse before engaging against the player. Freja attacks by crushing them with her legs or swiping them with her pincers. She can also spit out web balls to restrain the player's movement or acid that drastically depletes weapon and armor durability. Her most power move is a beam of magic that she shoots from left to right. The player can dodge this attack by rolling under it or by running behind her to the other head. Freja has an impenetrable exoskeleton that is immune to all attacks with the exception of her head.

Multiple spiders can be summoned by Freja to aid her in battle. They have little health but can easily overwhelm the player should they focus too much on Freja. Killing them first is a good idea before another wave spawns. This can be made easier if the player has a lit torch, as the spiders will rather flee from the flame.

Defeating Freja allows the player to pick up a Great Soul from the dragon corpse and open a path leading to both a Primal Bonfire and another leading to a chamber holding the hollow Duke Tseldora.

Trivia

 * Attacking one of Freja's heads enough times can decapitate it, leaving only one head for the player to worry about.
 * Freja is the only keeper of a Great Soul to not drop one after death. Instead, the player has to pick it up.