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| “ | Aldrich, infamous for his appetite for flesh, apparently had the desire to share with others his joy of imbibing the final shudders of life while luxuriating in his victim's screams. | „ |
| ~ The description of Aldrich's Ruby. |
Aldrich, also known as the Saint of the Deep and the Devourer of Gods, is the secondary antagonist of the 2016 action role-playing game Dark Souls III.
He is one of the four resurrected Lords of Cinder residing in Lothric, those who kindled the First Flame to prolong the Age of Fire. The most sadistic of the Lords, Aldrich formed a cult of fanatics that worship him as a god, with the members regularly sacrificing people for him to feast on, including Dark Sun Gwyndolin.
Appearance[]
Aldritch was once an average-looking human male. However, after continuously devouring human flesh, he became morbidly obese and eventually degenerated to a writhing black mass of sludge. During his boss fight, Aldrich makes use of the corpse of Gwyndolin who now acts as his main upper body, attached to the mass of Aldrich by a dark mass made from the black sludge he has become. This mass is filled with the remains of his various victims.
Personality[]
Aldrich was said to be a "right and proper cleric", implying that at one point, Aldrich was an upstanding member of the Church. However, he developed cannibalistic tendencies at some point. He seemed to take great pleasure in his cannibalism, taking to the process as like a religious experience, as not only did he take pleasure in his victim's screams, but he also wished to share this acquisitive gluttony with those around him.
Aldrich was also shown to be extremely ambitious and manipulative; not only did he change the dogma that led the Cathedral of the Deep to worship him, but he had taken to devouring gods, succeeding with Gwyndolin. Unlike the other Lords of Cinder, who had good intentions in mind, Aldrich is the only one who is overtly corrupt and apathetic to the plight of others.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Aldrich was once a holy cleric hailing from the city of Irithyll with a craving for human flesh. He gained much strength and was transformed into an aberration of black sludge and bones resembling ribcages. Due to his depraved habits, he was sent to the Cathedral of the Deep with hopes that he would be cleansed by it's purifying waters The power he amassed from eating so many humans and absorbing their dark souls was so much that he was considered a viable candidate for linking the First Flame in spite of his morally abhorrent actions.
Even after Aldrich got out, the man-eater's presence, due to the stagnation of all the dark souls in his body and the immense amount of darkness, infected the Cathedral of the Deep's waters, turning it into a pool of dark and repulsive life called the Deep. From it, maggots came and bought the corpses back to life. The Deacons of the Cathedral were tasked with combating the horrors of the Deep. McDonnell, a sorcerer and cleric from Irithyll, was sent to aid the Deacons into combating the Deep with his sorceries despite being clerics, but he began to find delight in the stagnant souls of the Deep. Eventually the Deacons got corrupted by the Deep's horrors, abandoning their faith in the Gods of Anor Londo to worship it and Aldrich as the "Saint of the Deep"
Dark Souls III[]
Aldrich reemerged from his coffin in the depths of his cathedral, reaching an ephiphany based on McDonnell's sorceries and the Deep's miracles that the Age of Fire would eventually end, and an age of the Deep would soon follow. Seeking to aid it in coming to pass, he sought to devour the Gods themselves, gathering the Deacons of the Deep, casting off their crowns and red robes and replacing them with dark-blue ones to symbolize their worship of the Deep, as an army to invade Irithyll.
His forces entered in a confrontation with the defenders of Anor Londo led by Pontiff Sulyvahn, who lost and was forced to let Aldrich devour the weakened Gwyndolin in exchange for mantaining control over part of Irithyll.
As Aldrich devoured the god, he dreamed of a young, pale girl into hiding, before the Ashen One entered the chamber he was residing in, with the cannibal using sorceries, Gwyndolin's half-eaten puppeted body, and the miracle he developed based on his dreams to defend himself.
Powers and Abilities[]
Formerly human, his cannibalism transformed him into a malleable and sludge-like form. In this form, Aldrich was believed to be more powerful than most, gaining the strength of those he devoured. In this form, he also received prophetic dreams, ones so accurate that he could recreate constructs of them in battle.
Following his resurrection, Aldrich consumes the God Gwyndolin, using his withered body, attached to the black sludge Aldrich had become to combat the Ashen One. Making use of a golden staff, Aldrich can launch blasts of purple energy, also being able to concentrate the power into a blade on the end of his staff.
He is also capable of transforming his staff into a bow, which is used to bring down a storm of Moonlight Arrows. As he takes damage, Aldrich will begin to imbue his attacks with fire, befitting of his status as a Lord of Cinder; the staff can be utilized by the cannibalistic priest to summon a massive scythe that heals him with each successful strike landed on the Ashen One.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- His name "Aldrich" ("エルドリッチ" in Japanese), which is read as "Eldritch", (a word meaning strange or sinister or supernatural), is an allusion to sci-fi/horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft and works.
- His name is also likely derived from Germanic name Aldric, formed from the elements "ald" ("old") and "ric" ("ruler, power"). Given his lore, he might be a reference to Saint Aldric, 9th-century bishop of Le Mans.
- Unlike all the other Lord of Cinders who were portrayed as Anti-Villains and kindled the fire willingly, Aldrich is the only truly evil Lord of Cinder as well as the only one to have kindled the fire unwillingly.
- It is possible that he was chosen as a Lord of Cinder not as a precaution against Aldrich, nor out of respect, but because he absorbed so many souls from the men he devoured, making the prime candidate for kindling the fire.
- While it is believed that the Age of Dark came after the Age of Fire, Aldrich had a vision of an "Age of the Deep" in contrast to the Age of Dark. Given how his visions are powerful that he can replicate spells and weapons with them, it is likely that Aldrich was truly correct on what he believed, or was at least more accurate than others.
- Aldrich's soul is massively different from most other souls, being wispy and black as opposed to like that of a flame, tinted a light blue. This may a reference to how Aldrich is so evil, even by the Dark Souls franchise standards, that he, literally, tainted his own soul.
- Aldrich, along with Pontiff Sulyvahn, Seath the Scaleless, and Nashandra are notable for being the most malevolent characters in the Souls series, which is otherwise known for its grey morality.
- Despite Aldrich's plural title, Gwyndolin is the only God confirmed to have been devoured.
- The blade on the end of his staff is the Gravelord Sword; this has led many to speculate that he may have devoured Gravelord Nito as well. However, there are no other lore implications to support this claim, as Nito was destroyed in Dark Souls.
- The Blade on the end of the staff appears to be a buff miracle, casting it at the start of combat. Entering the room and zooming in quickly allows one to see the staff itself, which is a Golden Ritual Spear.
- His theme lifts elements from both Dark Sun Gwyndolin/Moonlight Butterfly's theme.
- Examining the floor, note that the bones of the many hundreds, possibly thousands of beings that Aldrich has consumed may be seen floating within the sludge. Given his use of the Gravelord's sword and that his own body is, effectively, a mass grave; Aldrich may be considered the new Gravelord in replacement of Gravelord Nito, whose own body was also an aggregate collection of bones, rather than a reincarnation or corruption of Gwyndolin whom he merely manipulates as he would a puppet during this encounter.
- It's possible that many of the children Aldrich devoured were results of sexual violence inflicted by him upon Rosaria while he was in the Cathedral of the Deep, as the room where she resides is filled with empty cradles, Aldrich was said to have multiple children in the Japanese translation, and Ringfinger Leonhard constantly talks about her being ravaged.
- The hall that Aldrich fights the player is the same room that Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough fought the Chosen Undead in Dark Souls.
- The Soul of Aldrich can be consumed for 15,000 souls or transposed with Ludleth to create either the Lifehunt Scythe or the Darkmoon Longbow.
External Links[]
- Aldrich on the Pure Evil Wiki
