Board Thread:Dark Souls II/@comment-24494913-20140319193521/@comment-5633574-20140327035330

Multiple adventurers could have multiple copies of the same ring. Time is distorted in Lordran, accounting for many people running around with multiple copies of a legendary item. And even so, what's not to say only one single ring ended up in Lordran? Not only is it possible that there would be multiples of the ring in Lordran, especially because of the time distortion, it's extremely likely that there were.

The giants of Drangleic are warmongering creatures who barely talk and attack on sight, and look remarkably different. They're much bigger compared to Lordran's giants, while appearing paler and more scrawny in the limbs as well. And yes, it's been 1000 years; more than enough time for the architecture of Lordran to radically change and favor humans. Nothing remains the same for 1000 years after all, and what ruins we see resemble Lordran's architecture. And as Lordran has faded into legends, you wouldn't see any giants from there anyways. Also, there's no reason Ornstein or the Ancient Dragon would randomly be in Vinheim.

There is nothing that says Smough is a giant. The player is roughly the same size in his armor, and Gough is much bigger. Similar names does not a connection make, either. So no, until concretely said, Smough is not a giant.