Basilisk

The Basilisk, also known as the Curse Toad due to its method of attack, is an enemy in Dark Souls.

Location
Basilisks are found initially in the Depths, then again in The Great Hollow and Ash Lake.

Description
The basilisk is a slender, scrawny lizard with what looks like incredibly bulbous eyes. Upon seeing the player, it will frantically scramble into position and begin firing a grey mist that will quickly overwhelm the player with the Curse status, causing immediate death.

The bulbous appendages that appear on the basilisk are not its actual eyes. The basilisks eyes are the small yellow beads that appear right over its mouth.

General Information
The basilisk can only cause curse status, no other effects or any direct damage in any form.

The basilisks in the Depths guard the Ring of the Evil Eye.

Critical
The basilisk's entire face area is actually a critical area. Because it is the point that gets targeted when you lock onto the basilisk, using thrust weaponry will work exceedingly well against basilisks, as each strike will almost guarantee a critical hit.

Melee
Basilisks cannot attack behind them in any form, and their melee attack is incredibly slow. Combined with relatively low health, they can be quickly dealt with. However getting too close risks exposure to Curse and is ill advised if they are in any significant numbers.

Ranged
Basilisks stagger from just about any hit, and can easily be pelted with arrows without their being able to execute a single attack. This gives the added bonus of allowing players to pull one or two basilisks at a time, rather than have the entire swarm of seven or so rushing after them; players are also advised to be carrying arrows anyway as slimes are not far away from basilisks.