Talk:Hollow/@comment-84.24.7.134-20150109202802

I've actually heard a theory about what really happens when you go Hollow.

"Why do Undead go Hollow?"

Dying is a bad thing (no, really), except when you've got the Darksign, you don't truly die. You just get resurrected at the bonfire last used to rest at having lost all your souls and progress (discouraging, right?). Dying also chips away at your willpower, because you were beaten. You can keep trying for infinity, though. So the Undead tries again, and dies again. Now, he/she will feel less strongly inclined to keep going. The Undead dies a few more times, he/she starts to lose faith in his/her ability to even continue. This process repeats itself over and over, until the Undead starts to question whether or not it is even worth it. After a few more deaths, the Undead doesn't want to keep going, he/she stops caring. They come at a standstill, they don't even know what they're doing anymore, attacking anything they see out of rage or spite.

In short, they've become Hollow.

Now, you might be wondering. "Why does this Hollowing not affect the Chosen Undead?"

It does.

Every time you are beaten, and you get the infamous "You Died", what do you feel? You'll feel angry for having been beaten, you'll feel discouraged at your ability to keep going, you might question your skill and at some point want to stop playing for a while. At the extent of frustration, when the Chosen Undead/Player just cannot get past a thing (Blighttown, for example), they might stop playing altogether. They'd have lost their willpower to keep going. Their willpower has abandoned them, leaving the Chosen Undead to just lose their sense of purpose.

They've turned Hollow.

So there you have it, the Hollowing doesn't affect the Undead that retain their sense of purpose, it affects the ones that don't. This includes the Chosen Undead.