Gravelord Nito (Japanese: 墓王ニト, Hepburn: Haka-ō Nito, lit. 'Tomb King Nito'), also known as Nito, The First of the Dead (最初の死者ニト, Saisho no Shisha Nito, lit. 'Nito, First of the Dead') is a boss of Dark Souls. One of the great ones who found the Souls of Lords, he is one of four bosses the Chosen Undead must slay to feed the Lordvessel.
Although he has no voice nor lines in the game, Nito can also, under the right circumstances, appear as a a special character and leader of the Gravelord Servant covenant. He is also a mentioned character in Dark Souls II, as the "Great Dead One" and "the one who gave us the first death".
Location[]
Gravelord Nito can be found at the end of the Tomb of the Giants.
Description[]
Nito's body is that of an immensely sized human skeleton, though the ribcage is packed with bits of dead matter, and blown open as a result. The torso leans forwards as well, giving him a hunchback appearance, and his true skull is tucked into the dead matter and bones. His left leg is built like those on a dog or other four legged creature, while his right leg is humanlike, giving him a sort of handicap and reducing his movement to a slow limp. The other skeletons merely adorn him as armor, with his entire torso covered in rib cages and skulls, and arms and legs dangling all around him.
What was once an all-concealing cloak looking like black fur or feather, apparently conjured at will, is reduced to a tattered hairlike cloak. When dormant, Nito did not seem to wear it until after generating a glowing fume of lavender-white power, likely the "miasma of death" he is known for. His left hand is natural, his right is equipped with a triple bone forearm, which terminates in a sharpened bone blade covered with his miasma.
Lore[]
Dark Souls[]
Nito discovering a Lord Soul.
Nito is one of the primordial humanoid creatures that appeared underground after the First Flame appeared, which brought "disparity": heat and cold, life and death, light and dark. He was one of those who found the four Lord Souls, sources of immense power, together with Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, the Witch of Izalith and the Furtive Pygmy.[1]
At some point Nito would die, but, thanks to the power of his soul, was able to come back to life with necromancy, becoming a living mass of conjoined skeletons, earning the title "first of the dead"[2] ("dead" meant as a new species of skeletal creatures, not the first deceased being). Nito learned to harness the power of his Lord Soul to produce a dark power capable of bringing death to every living being,[3][4][5] and he infused it in his Gravelord Sword, crafted from the bones of the fallen and exuding his miasma of death as a toxin lethal for any living being.[4]
Nito fighting the Dragons.
He would then ally himself with the other Lords; Gwyn, Izalith, and the Furtive Pygmy, and take part in their war against the Dragons. While Gwyn peeled the scales of the dragons with his lightning bolts and fought them together with his Silver Knights, and Izalith and her witches weaved great firestorms, destroying the archtrees and burning the dragons, Nito unleashed his miasma of death, rotting the archtrees and infecting the dragons.[6] And so, after a long struggle, Nito and the Lords emerged victorious, exterminating most of the archdragons and conquering the world.[1]
After the war, while Gwyn developed his civilization of Anor Londo and Izalith that of her namesake city, Nito returned to the depths of the Catacombs, an immense necropolis, to slumber within the Tomb of the Giants, an even deeper place that housed the skeletons of enormous and bestial creatures,[7] and turned the caverns into his domain of light-devouring death.[8] In addition, the deceased members of the race of the Gods of Anor Londo[9] and their priests[10] also rested in the Tombs of the Giants, implying how Nito continued to collaborate with Gwyn by offering the Lord his domain to bury his people and servants. Nito would thus take on the role of administering the death of all manner of beings, giving up much of his Lord Soul into propagating death, earning him the title "Gravelord".[5]
Nito's Eyes of Death.
However, Nito did not carry out the task in complete solitude. At some point after the emergence of the Undead connected to the fading of the First Flame,[1] Nito took measures to deal with the beings that defied the death he oversaw. To this end he created the Fenito, beings capable of weaving death,[11] and tasked them with watching over the dead, entrusting them with his weapon Darkdrift.[12] Their philosophy was that death is equitable and accepting; that everyone will one day be welcomed by her embrace.[11] They viewed life as suffering, and braved the uncertainty that death may not resolve the pain of living; they only knew that death was all there was after life, and that everyone—even Undead—would have to face it, one way or another.[13] Nito also created the Milfanito, women who had little concept of self, and taught them to sing, making them enchanting singers with the task of comforting the undead, as those bound by death and darkness. They lived only to sing and would continue to do so until they no longer could.[14][15]. H3 enlisted some brave humans who had visited his tomb and wished to serve him, becoming part of the covenant of the Gravelord Servants.[7] Wielding their Gravelord Swords infused with a lethal toxin,[4] their task was to employ the Eyes of Death to spread disaster across time and space, causing hostile spirits to invade victims, thus bringing ruin upon the world and allowing the Eyes of Death to multiply and continue to spread calamity.[16] As Nito continued to oversee death in the world, he would accept proof of his servants' successes in the form of new Eyes of Death, rewarding them with his miracles capable of summoning magical copies of his Gravelord Sword.[7] For his closest servants he granted a stronger miracle, a tribute to the ruin they had thus far wrought upon worlds.[17] He would also teach his corpse art to a bunch of followers who imitated his form by becoming beings made of three humans merged together.
At one point Nito created a ritual capable of further bolstering bonfires using Kindlings, which allowed Undead to collect more Estus from them,[18] but the cost would be an humanity, a fragment of their Dark Soul.[19] The ritual was employed by clerics of the Way of White, and the Undead can imitate the process in the same manner by consuming their Humanity at bonfires.[18] The connection implies Nito being involved in the religious system of the gods who were looking for a "chosen one" among the Undead, one capable of linking the First Flame and following Gwyn in his sacrifice.[20]
Nito resting in his sarcophagus.
At a certain point, several followers in possession of occult powers descended into the Catacombs and attempted to steal Nito's mortal power to use it in a plot to kill the gods,[3] but perished inside his dark domain before they could achieve their goal.[21]
At some point, one of the "Pinwheels" managed to steal Nito's Rite of Kindling and part of his power,[22][23] using them to continue studying necromancy and to reign over the Catacombs along Necromancers who learned his arts and employed the area's skeletons as an army.[23]
When a Chosen Undead was able to ring the Bells of Awakening, overcome the challenges of Sen's Fortress and reach Anor Londo, being rewarded with the Lordvessel, they would be guided by Kingseeker Frampt to find immense souls to fill the receptacle and link the fading First Flame to succeed Gwyn in his sacrifice.[24] The Undead would thus have delved into the Catacombs until they reached the sarcophagus in which Nito rested. Here they challenged and killed him to obtain what remained of his Lord Soul.[5]
Dark Souls II[]
The Milfanito created by Nito.
Eons after Nito's death to a Chosen Undead, the Fenito and Milfanito continued to serve their purpose and carried out the will of the "Great Dead One", arriving in Drangleic where they positioned themselves to manage the Undead Crypt,[11] a place of rest for the "living" where those afflicted by the curse of Undeath could only pray to one day gain entrance.[25] As centuries went by, countless dead came there to rest in peace cradled by the comfort of darkness; regardless of class, rank or status, the Fenito made sure they all remained dead, employing miracles that put mindless Hollows down for their eternal rest,[25] and pyromancies to create a gentle flame to heal and comfort the Hollows.[26] The Fenitos thus became the Grave Wardens who were charged with watching over the Crypt and its slumbering dead,[27] making sure that they were not awoken, readily burying whoever dared disturb their rest.[28] Their silverblack equipment was soaked and imbued with the power of the darkness that enveloped the crypt.[29] The Milfanito also helped with their task, singing to comfort the deceased who rested in Undead Crypt.[30] The marshlands before the Crypt also became the home of the Brightbugs, a tiny bug that produced light and was said to soothe the dead.[31] These creatures were born from the corpse of Nito, and danced to the song of the Milfanito.[15]
There was no shortage of intruders seeking salvation or power within the Undead Crypt. A party of cleric knights would try to conquer the Crypt, only to be defeated by the Grave Wardens; for their sin the Wardens postponed their deaths, forcing them to serve as crypt sentries,[32] and left their leaders to wander aimlessly in the depths of darkness.[33] Another party of imperious knights attempted to conquer the crypt: These knights too were defeated, and turned into crypt guardians, being denied their eternal restful slumber.[34][35]
At one point, the Leydia Witches reached the Undead Crypt. A group adept at magic and able to use miracles, pyromancy, sorcery and even hexes with their special staves,[36] these witches were worshippers of Galib, the God of Disease.[37] The witches were welcomed into the crypt, where they ended up residing beside the Fenito, collaborating in their tasks and sharing their power of death.[37][38] However, sometime later, the Leydia Witches grew conceited, and began to manipulate the onset and curing of disease, making themselves the effective gatekeepers of the crypt.[37] Their misuse of death and their failure to treat it with the proper respect[39][40] invoked the ire of the Fenito, who branded them as transgressors, blasphemers and traitors[36][39][41] and hunted them down, denying them a peaceful death and slaughtering most of them.[42]
The remnants of Nito's soul possessed the Rotten.
By the era of Drangleic, long after his Lord Soul had been used to link the First Flame, Nito's very name was lost.[43] Those few in the region who still remembered his existence referred to him as "Great Dead One".[44] However, some remnants of his soul[45][46] manifested again in Drangleic, continuing to exert their influence on the region.[47]
At some point, a butcher[48] came into contact with the soul of Nito[47] deep inside the Black Gulch. The mass of dark power[49] transformed his body and he became a creature formed by a huge mass of hollows fused together known as the Rotten.[50][51] It kept writhing deep within the Gutter, embracing the abominations that fell deep inside the Gulch and creating a sanctuary for all things rotten or tossed away.[52] He would keep producing the Poison Statue Clusters, artifacts that released the deadly toxin that covered the tunnels of the Black Gulch.[53]
Theories[]
- It is possible that The Catacombs give a picture of Nito's past.
- The statues in the Catacombs engraved with the mask of the mother and the mask of the child have a contraption which makes spears burst out the child's face; that could either rapresent a mother dying of childbirth, a mother having a miscarriage, or a pregnant woman dying alongside her baby. It's therefore possible that Nito lost his own family during his own life.
- The feminine scream heard when Nito performs the Gravelord Greatsword attack may also be a reference.
- It is possible to theorize that Galib, God of Disease is the name that the Leydia Witches used to continue to venerate Nito after his name was lost over the centuries.
- Galib was connected to diseases, not unlike Nito who was connected to deadly miasmas.[4]
- Fenito, creatures created by the Ancient Lord,[11] welcomed the Leydia Witches into the Undead Crypt[37] and shared the power of death with them,[38] implying that there was cultural and ideological common ground between the two to collaborate, at least initially.
Strategies[]
When falling into Nito's domain, some damage will be incurred. This can be negated through use of the Fall Control sorcery. If Fall Control is unavailable, make sure to heal once landed, preferably with Estus as the other forms might not be fast enough to avoid Nito's ranged attack.
Nito is a very large, very slow boss with average HP. This makes large weapons and slow spells excellent candidates for dealing damage to him quickly. Nito's attacks often cause toxin and can be quite damaging, but almost all of them have a very long startup time and are easily avoidable. All of the attacks except the sword dance can be blocked.
Nito is aided by some minor Skeletons initially, and Giant Skeletons if the player ventures too far from the place they fell down from. Both types of Skeletons resurrect after being killed, unless they are killed with a Divine weapon (even with a Divine weapon a Phantom can't kill the skeletons, only the Host can). They are no tougher than the Skeletons found throughout The Catacombs and the Tomb of the Giants, but may prove to be a fatal distraction to fighting Nito himself. Because Nito is so slow, it is a good idea to kill all of his minions with a Divine weapon before engaging with him, so the skeletons will not get in the way. As long as you are not close to him, the only attack you have to watch out for is his Gravelord Greatsword (listen for the scream and start running). Wearing the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring will help in avoiding confrontation with the Giant Skeletons at the back of the cavern.
He can easily be strafed behind for free hits, resulting in large amounts of damage – especially if attacking him with fire weapons or pyromancies (as he is weak to fire).
Boss information[]
Attacks[]
Slam[]
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Attack Type | Parryable | Tracking | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 550 | - | - | - | Physical | No | Neither | Slow |
Nito slowly raises his weapon, then slams it into the ground, inflicting toxic buildup. Difficult to block, but can be easily dodged. Also, Nito pauses for a few moments afterwards, leaving him open to attacks.
Thrust[]
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Attack Type | Parryable | Tracking | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 506 | - | - | - | Thrust | No | Neither | Slow |
Nito thrusts forward with his sword, inflicting toxic buildup. Can be blocked or dodged.
Swing[]
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|
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Attack Type | Parryable | Tracking | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 396 | - | - | - | Physical | No | Neither | Slow |
Nito swings his sword horizontally, inflicting toxic buildup. Can be blocked or rolled under.
Gravelord Greatsword[]
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|
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|
Attack Type | Parryable | Tracking | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 305 | - | - | - | Physical | No | Both | Slow |
Only used by Nito when the player is either far away from him, or when they are out of sight range. After a scream, Nito plunges his sword into the ground, where it emerges from underneath the player, causing toxic buildup along with decent damage. It has a similar effect to the Gravelord Sword Dance miracle.
Miasma[]
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Attack Type | Parryable | Tracking | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | 528 | - | - | Magic | No | AoE | Slow |
After pausing to charge the attack, Nito will expel a wave of darkness in all directions, causing Magic damage.
Death Grip[]
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Attack Type | Parryable | Tracking | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 275 | - | - | - | Regular | No | Neither | Slow |
Nito's hand glows red, whilst also attempting to grab the player. If successful, it deals a great deal of damage to the player.
Defenses[]
| Physical Defenses | Elemental Defenses | Resistances | |||||||
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 317 | 317 | 317 | 317 | 238 | 221 | 317 | S | S | S |
These stats are sourced from FuturePress's Official Dark Souls Strategy Guide.
Drops[]
| Item |  Lord Soul |
| Drop Rate | Guaranteed |
Trivia[]
- His name could be a play on the Italian word finito, meaning "ended."
- His creations all have the same word, with either an "a" or an "e" as the second letter, in the name of their species to reference their connection to him.
- However, the name Nito (ニト) is similar to the world Nīto (ニート), which means "neat" but can also be translated "NEET"; this is line with the reclusive nature of Nito and his indifference towards the upper world.
- Using modifications, one can see his true form beneath his cloak, revealed to be a massive skeleton that merely wears the others as armor.
- Doing so also reveals that his sword appears to be an extension of his arm, but why still remains unknown, though it resembles a war scythe.
- In addition to this, his left leg is built like the hind leg of a quadruped animal (the legs of birds or the back legs of dogs being notable examples).
- He just so happens to walk with a limp due to this.
- There is another coffin, smaller than his own, right next to him; for what purpose it was placed there is not known. There is a third coffin on Nito's left, which is hard to see because mostly hidden by the stalactites. This could imply that there are other coffins in the caves beyond the stalactites behind Nito's grave, perhaps made for other giants or Gods.
- While he does have the two gravelord servant miracles given to his worshipers, he is the only Lord that has no variety of magic associated with him which the player can use. While Gwyn is connected to miracles, the Witch is connected to flame sorcery and pyromancy, and the Pygmy is connected to dark sorceries and hexes, Nito is the creator of necromancy ("Corpse Arts" 屍術), that the player is unable to learn or use.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Music[]
Achievements/Trophies[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Opening (Dark Souls) narration.
- ↑ https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/File:Nito_without_cloack.png
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Effigy Shield description.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Gravelord Sword description.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lord Soul description.
- ↑ Undead Dragon appearance.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Gravelord Sword Dance description.
- ↑ Skull Lantern description.
- ↑ Gravelord Sword Dance accurate description.
- ↑ Darkmoon Seance Ring#Availability and description.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Grave Warden Agdayne dialogue: "Countless dead rest here in peace. Cradled by the comfort of dark. Light only agitates. We have no need for it here. I am a Fenito. We weave death, and watch over the dead. This task was granted to me by the one who gave us the first death. Countless souls rest here. Some of them from ages long ago. Some were rich, other poor. Some wise, some dull, but now, they are all just dead. Death is equitable, accepting. We will all, one day, be welcomed by her embrace."
- ↑ Darkdrift description.
- ↑ Agdayne's Set description.
- ↑ Singer's Dress description.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Milfanito dialogue: "When we sing, the little ones dance. The little ones grant comfort to those who bear death and Dark. This is what we were taught." and "The little ones were born from the Great Dead One. And the Great Dead One taught us song. We have sung ever since. To comfort those bound by death and Dark. This is what we were taught."
- ↑ Eye of Death description.
- ↑ Gravelord Greatsword Dance description.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Rite of Kindling description.
- ↑ Humanity (item)#Lore
- ↑ Reah of Thorolund's mission involved their descent to "recover" the original Rite of Kindling in the Catacombs (see Griggs of Vinheim dialogue: "Did you see them? The three young clerics... headed for the Catacombs, to seek Kindling. Kindling is the art of feeding bonfires. The poor young girl, sent down into a tomb. What a terrible mission she is burdened with.")
- ↑ Effigy Shield#Availability
- ↑ Rite of Kindling#Availability
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Mask of the Father description.
- ↑ Kingseeker Frampt dialogue.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Soul Appease description.
- ↑ Warmth description.
- ↑ Grave Warden Mask description.
- ↑ Silverblack Spear description.
- ↑ Silverblack Shield description.
- ↑ Milfanito#Location implies that the Milfanito were located near the access of the crypt that later became the Shrine of Amana.
- ↑ Brightbug description.
- ↑ Insolent Set description.
- ↑ Shield of the Insolent description.
- ↑ Orma's Greatshield description.
- ↑ Imperious Set description.
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Black Witch's Staff description.
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 Leydia Black Hood description.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Magic Shield (shield) and Leydia Black Hood descriptions imply that Leydia Witches had access to the death-giving power of the Fenito to manipulate it.
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 Leydia White Hood description.
- ↑ Magic Shield (shield) description.
- ↑ Blue Flame description.
- ↑ Black Witch's Staff and Magic Shield (shield) and Blue Flame description.
- ↑ Sweet Shalquoir dialogue: "Are you going to see the Old Ones? Those four who have grown so incredibly ancient. They must have sprouted quite a thick coat of moss by now. For heaven's sake, no-one even knows their names anymore!"
- ↑ Singer's Dress description.
- ↑ Crypt Blacksword description.
- ↑ Crypt Blacksword#Availability
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Old Dead One Soul description and Old Dead One Soul#Availability
- ↑ Butcher's Knife description and Butcher's Knife#Availability
- ↑ Numbness description and Numbness#Availability
- ↑ https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/File:The_Rotten_-_01.jpg
- ↑ Sweet Shalquoir dialogue: "You've seen that gaping hole here? Well, there's nasty little vermin down there. Although who you seek is even further below. And has been down there for a very, very long time. He's plumb Rotten by now, I'm sure! Hee hee hee…."
- ↑ Soul of the Rotten description.
- ↑ The Rotten cutscene depicts him trying to create the Poison Statue Clusters.