The Souls series is composed of some of the best video games of all time. This is due to the sheer scope of the game world, which makes you feel as if you are really trapped within a world of dark fantasy, with creatures awaiting you around each corner.

FromSoftware has put a lot of effort into each of the three Dark Souls games, as well as Demon's Souls and Bloodborne, which are closely related to them. This is why each game world looks so incredible and why each character model looks so impressive.

The people at FromSoftware are just as much a victim of due dates as every other video game developer, which means that not all ideas make their way into the final version of the game. There are also ideas which weren't finished due to a shift in creative direction, or because they didn't work as intended.

The Souls series has inspired a lot of devotion from its fanbase, to the point where there are entire websites and YouTube series dedicated to breaking down the unspoken lore of the series, which is something that the casual player will likely miss during a regular playthrough. These fans have dug through the files of each game and discovered treasure troves of unused content that was once planned to be a part of the series.

We are here today to look at the awesome pieces of content from that were removed from the Souls series: from the original version of one of the most frustrating bosses in Dark Souls to the lost invasion quest for the Chaos Blade.

Here are Twenty Hidden Things Only Super Fans Found In Dark Souls!

20 The Original Bed Of Chaos

via youtube.com

Bed of Chaos might hold the distinction of being the most unfair boss in Dark Souls. This is due to the fact that it is essentially a puzzle boss that can wipe you out if you don't perform a set of instructions that are never told to you.

It seems that the Bed of Chaos was once planned to be part of a more standard boss battle. There is an alternate model for the Bed of Chaos that has a set of wings on its back and has more animations, suggesting that it was meant to move around its arena.

It's a shame that the original version of the Bed of Chaos wasn't kept in the game, as a more standard boss battle would have been an improvement on the lame jumping puzzle that was retained in the retail version of the game.

19 The Lost Battle Royale Ceremony

via darksouls3.wiki.com

Player versus Player combat is a huge part of what brought the Souls series to mainstream attention, as the ability to invade the game of another player and hunt them down was seen as a huge addition to what was already an intense single-player experience.

It seems that Dark Souls III was planned to have a more in-depth PvP experience, as a YouTuber named Lance McDonald discovered an unused ritual within the game that would have added a battle royale mode.

It was originally going to be possible to shroud the High Wall of Lothric in darkness, which would have allowed several players to battle each other at the same time.

18 The Lost World Behind The Broken Archstone

via.YouTube

In order to access the different worlds in Demon's Souls, the player has to use magical teleportation devices, known as Archstone, to send them on their way.

There are five functional Archstone in Demon's Souls, with a sixth one that lays in ruins. The players had speculated that this was intended to send you to a level that was being saved for DLC, which was never finished.

Hackers have gone through the files of Demon's Souls and discovered the unfinished sixth world. The fans refer to this location as the Land of the Giants, as one of the NPCs refer to the broken Archstone as a gift from the giants.

The Land of Giants is a huge empty castle in a snow-filled area, which has since been restored into a playable fashion by the fans.

17 The Original Beatrice

via.DarkSoulsWikia

One of the few allies you can call upon in Dark Souls is a powerful witch named Beatrice. You can call upon her help for the Moonlight Butterfly boss battle, which is especially handy for characters who use a melee build. Beatrice can also be called upon to help you fight the Four Kings, but only if she joined you in the Moonlight Butterfly battle.

The version of Beatrice that appears in Dark Souls is an adult woman. There is another character model for Beatrice within the files of the game that shows a much younger version of the character.

Beatrice was likely changed to avoid the issues involved with showing the demise of a child in a video game, which is something that the rating boards frown upon.

16 The Lost Animal Monsters

via.DemonsSoulsWikia

The Land of the Giants is the unfinished sixth world of Demon's Souls that is filled with nothing but snow and stone. This is due to the fact that it won't load any of its planned encounters without any prompts from the player.

The fans have gone through the files of Demon's Souls and discovered that there were several animal monsters that were almost certainly going to be used in the Land of the Giants. These monsters include a wolfman with white fur, a bear warrior (seen above) who wields a huge club in battle, a hyena man who would have fought with its long claws, a yeti with a mouth in its stomach, and an owl wizard who casts magic spells in battle.

15 The King Jar-Eel

via.DarkSoulsWikia

The bosses are the true stars of the Souls series, as most players can't remember anything about their main character, but they can recall getting bashed by the likes of the Bell Gargoyles and Ludwig.

There are only a handful of cut boss monsters in the Souls series, with the exception of Bloodborne (as we'll get to later), with the most notable example being Undead King Jar-Eel from Dark Souls. 

Undead King Jar-Eel was intended to be a powerful Darkwraith, who acted as a boss battle within the New Londo Ruins. You were originally planned to defeat Jar-Eel as part of the quest to receive the Key to the Seal.

14 The Original Moon Presence

via bloodborne.wiki.fextralife.com

One of the potential final bosses in Bloodborne is the Moon Presence. In order to fight the Moon Presence, you need to consume three of the One Third of Umbilical Cords and defeat Gehrman, which will summon the Moon Presence to the field.

There is actually a second version of the Moon Presence boss fight which fans have discovered within an unfinished Chalice Dungeon.

This alternate version of the Moon Presence may have been planned as a second form during the final battle, as it appears to be wounded. The alternate Moon Presence cannot get up off the ground and must rely on its tentacles to harm the player — unless you move close enough for it to strike you with its claws.

13 The True Purpose Of Pontiff Sulyvahn

via.DarkSoulsWikia

The final boss of Dark Souls III is the Soul of Cinder, who is battled at the Kiln of the First Flame.

It seems that the Soul of Cinder was a late addition to the game, as there is evidence to suggest that Pontiff Sulyvahn was intended to be the original final boss of Dark Souls III. 

The original final battle of the game was intended to place in an unused variant of the Untended Graves area, which would have been accessed with the aid of a ritual. It was here that the confrontation with Pontiff Sulyvahn would have taken place.

It's probably for the best that Pontiff Sulyvahn wasn't the final boss of the game, as he is just a guy in a suit of armor with a pair of magical swords, which is about as generic as the Dark Souls series gets.

12 The Lesser Demon

via.BloodborneWikia

FromSoftware did an amazing job at making the monsters in Bloodborne feel distinct from the ones you saw in Dark Souls. Bloodborne has a focus on character designs involving transformation attempts that have gone wrong, combined with worshiping the Lovecraftian horrors that exist at the borders of our perception.

It is likely for this reason that the Lesser Demon boss was cut from Bloodborne. This is a creature that resembles the Balrog from The Lord of the Rings and it wouldn't have looked out of place in Dark Souls, but a big fiery demon with an ax doesn't gell with the setting of Bloodborne. 

11 The True Purpose Of Crossbreed Priscilla

via.DarkSoulsWikia

Crossbreed Priscilla is one of the bosses found in the Painted World of Ariamis. The reason she is called a Crossbreed is that one of her parents was an Everlasting Dragon, which accounts for her huge height.

The developers of Dark Souls have revealed that Crossbreed Priscilla was planned to have a much larger role in the game. She was going to hold the same role in the story as the Emerald Herald in Dark Souls II and would be the means through which the player could spend souls on increasing their stats.

There are several unused animations within the files of Dark Souls that show Crossbreed Priscilla sitting down and standing around idly, which would have been used for the times when you were planned to encounter her at the Firelink Shrine.

10 The Cainhurst Beast Horse & Cainhurst Knight

via.BloodborneWikia

You don't see many mounted enemies in the Souls series, as most of the combat encounters involve the player battling monsters who are on foot. There are very few horses in the Souls games for this reason, with the notable exception being Ludwig, who seemingly did the Dragon Ball Fusion Dance with his horse.

Bloodborne was originally planned to feature an armored knight on a monstrous horse as one of the bosses in the game.

It's unknown why this boss was cut, but it may be due to similar reasons as the Lesser Demon mentioned above, as an armored knight is something that would fit in better with the Dark Souls games than in Bloodborne. 

9 The Lost Baby

via: darksouls3.wikidot.com

Oceiros, the Consumed King is one of the boss monsters in Dark Souls III. Ocerios is one of the most off putting bosses in the game, due to the fact that he is seemingly pretending to cradle a child in his hand throughout the battle. The sound of a baby crying can be heard during the battle.

A prominent member of the Souls community is a YouTuber named Sanadsk. He went digging through the files of Dark Souls III and found an unused skeletal model for a child that was meant to be placed in Oceiros' hand, along with skin textures named "Baby."

8 The Original Chester

via.DarkSoulsWikia

Marvelous Chester is a merchant that the player can encounter in Dark Souls. You can find him in the Royal Wood, where he will sell useful curative items and weapons. It's also possible to battle Marvellous Chester as an invading spirit if you travel to the Oolacile Township.

It seems that the developers of Dark Souls had some trouble deciding on Chester's design, as there is a prototype design for the character within the game, with several different color variants of his armor. Chester is also seen wielding the Black Zweihander, which is an unused weapon within the files of the game.

7 The Slug Princess

via.BloodborneWikia

Creepy bodies are a huge aspect of Bloodborne, with many of the NPCs in the game being trapped in awful forms that were brought on by the corruption in them. Ludwig might be the chief example of this, as his body has merged with that of a horse and turned into a five-legged thing.

One of the creepiest creatures within Bloodborne is the Slug Princess, but she was cut from the game and can only be found through hacking. The Slug Princess is a desiccated human who has traits of a slimy insect. She has animations for crawling towards the player in a creepy manner, but she is so slow that she probably wouldn't have put up much of a fight. It's for this reason that many Bloodborne fans think that she may have been an NPC.

6 The Ninja Blade Monster

via.DemonsSoulsWikia

FromSoftware is best known for the Souls series, but they have produced numerous other video games over the years.

One of FromSoftware's earlier games was Ninja Blade for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. This was a game where you played a ninja in the futuristic world of 2015.

Fans of Demon's Souls have discovered the model for the Hydra boss from Ninja Blade within the files of the game. The Hydra lacks any sort of animation, which suggests that it only existed for testing purposes, which is a shame, as hackers may have been able to add the Hydra into the game if there was more content associated with it.

5 The True Purpose Of Oscar

via: darksouls.wikia.com

Oscar of Astora is one of the first characters you will encounter in Dark Souls. If you listen to Oscar's tale, then he will give you the Estus Flask, as well as one of the keys you need to escape the Undead Asylum.

There are unused pieces of dialogue within Dark Souls that suggest that Oscar was intended to have a much bigger role in the game. He was originally meant to survive the events within the Undead Asylum and would have thanked the player for ringing the Bell of Awakening. He would then turn into a major antagonist and act as one of the bosses that you would fight at the end of the game.

4 The Original Story Of Dark Souls II

Via Darksouls.wikia

Dark Souls II is not as acclaimed as the other games in the series, as many fans and critics felt that it didn't improve upon the formula of the original game and was just spinning its wheels.

The problems with Dark Souls II may be linked to the fact that the story was overhauled during development.

Sanadsk has created an excellent video that explains a lot of the changes. In brief; the game was going to include time-travel, with a large focus on completing the item that you use to journey back in time, where you would have encountered a child version of the Emerald Herald, which is why she knows you in the future.

3 The Chalice Beast

via.BloodborneWikia

A lot of the unused content within Bloodborne can be encountered within the Chalice  Dungeons. This suggests that the Chalice Dungeons were used as one of the main testing areas during the development of Bloodborne, as they hold access to lots of secrets that would have otherwise remained buried.

It's possible to encounter a creature known as the Chalice Beast within one of the Chalice Dungeons, even though it doesn't appear anywhere else in the game. The Chalice Beast is a big hairy monster that some fans have also referred to as "Pigbear", due to its monstrous appearance.

2 The Great One Beast

via.BloodborneWikia

The Chalice Dungeons in Bloodborne contain a secret boss that was never meant to be encountered by the player. This creature exists within a chamber that is only half-completed, but this beast can still prove to be a challenge to even the best of hunters.

The Great One Beast is a gigantic wolf-like creature, with burning red eyes. It seems that this creature was cut fairly late in development, as it can be fought like any other boss in the game, even though it's missing a few key animations.

It's a shame that the people at FromSoftware didn't go back and finish the Great One Beast when they were working on the DLC for the game, as it seems like it would have made for an epic challenge.

1 The True Purpose Of Shiva

via.DarkSoulsWikia

Shiva of the East is a character in the original Dark Souls who is closely linked to the Forest Hunter covenant. If you join the Forest Hunters, then you can purchase unique weapons from him.

There are some NPCs in Dark Souls who tell you not to trust Shiva, even though he doesn't do anything wrong in the game. This dialogue refers to a cut quest in the game which would have involved invading Shiva's world.

Shiva was originally going to ask you about the Chaos Blade weapon. If you returned to him with the Chaos Blade, then he would have slain you and taken the weapon. You would then be given the Black Eye Orb, which would have allowed you to pursue Shiva into his own world and take the sword back.