Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-10324940-20130602034026/@comment-4511886-20130709162514

@Jar I think the undead were seen as saints at first (Leeroy being the first undead in the WoW, and possibly even the first one) but was later hated after the first few became hollows. They are perfectly good humans but are hated because they run the risk of going hollow, and this isn't something that is unexpected. Look at the real world. Stereotypes are generally the most unpleasant kind in an otherwise perfectly good group. It could also be that the church somehow found out about how the dark soul could destroy the gods and they created propaganda to stop that from happening.

It reminds me of the ghouls in Fallout. A few went feral and, all suddenly, everyone started hating all of them, even the sane ones. That and they also look like walking corpses, of course.

As for Leeroy, I just think he was a paladin before he became undead and then he was sent on his mission to Lordran before the undead were hated. The rest of the undead church members were simply sent there with the same mission as an excuse to banish them.