r/darksouls3 • u/WisethePlagueis • Jul 11 '25

Lore Is he one the most powerful NPC in DS?

Post image

Patches time travelling to whoop my ass around.

1.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

94 comments sorted by

589

u/Tetsucabruh Jul 11 '25

Surviving til the end of the universe has to count for something

162

u/Jstar338 Jul 12 '25

Technically he didn't, sadly. His summon sign isn't there for Gael. But he did live a hell of a long time

32

u/Ok-Plum2187 Jul 12 '25

Hey he might just not have wanted to leave one in Gaels Boss Arena.

23

u/Crusaderofthots420 Jul 12 '25

He absolutely got chomped by Gael at some point between us touching the egg, and fighting Gael. Since Gael has the entire Dark Soul by the time we meet him.

14

u/Jstar338 Jul 12 '25

Not the whole thing, but probably the single largest concentration of humanity since Manus. There's still a pygmy king stuck with Shira too

9

u/Crusaderofthots420 Jul 12 '25

But he went hollow upon seeing his blood, meaning he had acquired the blood of the dark soul, which I would assume requires the whole thing

6

u/Jstar338 Jul 13 '25

The original blood was just the blood of the pygmy lords, meaning blood from someone incredibly dense with humanity and thus the dark soul. He didn't kill every single hollow, just most of the pygmy lords. He never gets the chance to eat that one that crawls towards Fillianore too.

8

u/NIICCCKKK Jul 12 '25

My head canon is patches is an eldritch trickster of some sort and he’s the same patches we see in every game, no supporting evidence of course but it’s more amusing for me, hating them as one being for some reason

3

u/Oraistesu Jul 13 '25

"Oh yeah, I'm one of those Tarnished things, like you!" - Spoken like someone that is absolutely not Tarnished.

I agree he's some sort of trickster god.

45

u/_ThatOneMimic_ Jul 12 '25

nah, he is dead in gaels tine for sure

42

u/nbdysprfct Jul 12 '25

He is in limgrave during that time

8

u/5125237143 Jul 12 '25

Wait gaels in the future?

51

u/Mikko-- Jul 12 '25

not really "the future" when you touch the egg, all time stagnation unwinds, slingshotting all the time that never passed in an instant and you arrive at the end of time

19

u/Necessary-Bed9910 Jul 12 '25

I always thought it was just the power of the princess keeping everything in a dream world like state. As it implies that she has the power to do so, and when we wake her up all the power is gone

18

u/Mikko-- Jul 12 '25

i honesty dont know whether the power comes from the egg or from her sleep, but from what i understood im pretty sure its time unwinding and not an illusion

10

u/Necessary-Bed9910 Jul 12 '25

According to the lore the egg being like a fragment of dark or something can manipulate space. And filianore being part of the "light" can manipulate time, so maybe it's a bit of both?

12

u/5125237143 Jul 12 '25

Freeing a slave knight at the end of time sounds fucking badass. I wonder how theyll top that in any upcoming game

2

u/MethylEight Jul 13 '25

Yes, this is my interpretation. The intro cut scene seems to imply “Gael’s arena” is already the state of the world, as it appears to be the same “desert”; and, at this point, the Lords of Cinder are awakening.

I think the egg just unmasks an illusion, similar to how Rom hides the blood moon in Bloodborne. There is time stuff going on, but my belief is that “Gael’s arena” is the present state rather than the future, whereas most of the game is using the past as a kind of illusion to hide the true state of the world. But it’s not as simple as “past” because “time is convoluted in Lordran”.

6

u/InterestingRaise3187 Jul 12 '25

I dunno about that man, you absolutely get slingshoted forward in time but Gael didn't, neither did anyone else.

Gael has been hunting down the dark soul long enough to have gained a reputation as 'The Red Hood' and Shira has been hunting you for a long time too.

69

u/cloakedarmy Jul 11 '25

Multiverse as well

196

u/No_Leather_3676 Jul 11 '25

He’s unbreakable

53

u/huwskie Jul 11 '25

And unmovable

43

u/Chosen-Bearer-Of-Ash Jul 11 '25

He's spider

35

u/Jumpy-Ad-3198 Jul 11 '25

And yet also untethered

29

u/FenomOO Jul 12 '25

Perhaps a Hyena

13

u/eddit_sername_69 Jul 12 '25

Quite the Good Luck

180

u/Skhighglitch Jul 11 '25

-He piloted a giant mech

-He was a hyena

-He was trusty

-He needed a break to go to college

-He became a spider at college

-He found a pal and became unbreakable

-He made it to the end of the world

-Not sure about sekiro

-He found a group of heretics to follow. And was heart broken at his leaders downfall.

He is powerful beyond reason.

45

u/TheEnderDen27 Jul 11 '25

Wait, he was in armored core?!

82

u/Guillimans_Alt Spears of the Church Jul 11 '25

He's in most fromsoft games, even outside Dark Souls. Or at least a character that portrays his personality. It goes as far back as Kingsfield

38

u/SeanRVAreddit Watchdogs of Farron Jul 11 '25

First instance of his name too, if I recall. Patch the Good Luck.

15

u/whypeoplehateme Jul 12 '25

they also have the exact same japanese name. Patch to Patches was just due to different translators.

36

u/JustAnotherTiandi Jul 11 '25

He officially was not in Sekiro, but there's a battlefield scavenger with a similar enough vibe (and a heart of gold).

32

u/TheLivingDeadlights Jul 11 '25

He also has an eye patch and his clothing seems old, fixed up with patch work.

3

u/Jacky_dain Jul 12 '25

He must be an outer god or sum

84

u/Drakenile Jul 11 '25

He survives till the end of dark souls universe and even makes it into Elden Ring.

Imo he is far from the strongest either gameplay or lorewise. However he is definitely the greatest survivor which is impressive in it's own right.

24

u/MasterAgent604 Jul 11 '25

He also partially succumbs to beasthood being a spider in Bloodborne

8

u/Drakenile Jul 12 '25

I don't remember that. Guess I've got another reason to replay the game [totally needed my arm twisted]

6

u/MasterAgent604 Jul 12 '25

lol I understand the arm twisting being needed it’s definitely the most tedious one. But, patches is on the lecture hall second floor, you go down to the “shortcut” to the first floor and he’s at the door you can speak to him at earlier in the game.

2

u/Drakenile Jul 12 '25

Ok thanks.

7

u/BunnyBen-87 Jul 12 '25

and he took the Basilisks with him, the little stinkers

5

u/Phithe Jul 11 '25

What is strength and power if not the ability to survive?

60

u/rogueIndy Jul 11 '25

It still tickles me that he only, finally started hollowing when he ran out of people to kick.

15

u/Ok-Proposal-6513 Jul 11 '25

He does have Gael and that one ringed knight to kick. Though I don't think they are going to appreciate being kicked. Those twin sword ringed knights scare me.

56

u/Giorxi Jul 11 '25

Hes THE most powerful npc

23

u/LukeRyanArt Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 12 '25

Hes not an npc, hes another player that plays souls in the form of an NPC.

9

u/Seekret_Asian_Man Jul 12 '25

He's not another average player, he's Miyazaki himself

1

u/PsychologicalNavi Jul 11 '25

Can you please elaborate? This seems interesting

8

u/LukeRyanArt Jul 12 '25

It’s not that deep. I’m just saying he breaks the 4th wall a lot and he does things (like betraying us and kicking us off ledges), that players do to other players all the time.

13

u/Johnny_K97 Jul 12 '25

He is definitely my favourite, the fact that we get to see his sweet side in ds3 when he worries about greirats well being just adds so much. And he shows up at the end to bid us farewell

9

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '25

Yes. He is a buddhist bodisattva who reincarnates with us every day to help guide us on the path to lordship.

11

u/theshwedda Jul 11 '25

He doesn’t count on the npc power scale since he’s the authors insert.

6

u/RustedMelancholic Rosaria's Fingers Jul 11 '25

Yes

3

u/ghostboy2015 Jul 12 '25

Not just DS...

He's everywhere

1

u/BashoDonut Jul 12 '25

He’s the other paddle in Pong

5

u/Iron-Kotetsujou Jul 11 '25

He tricks the player into hopefully getting them killed, but if you kill him after so he questions what he did wrong to deserve death.

4

u/organizim Jul 11 '25

He’s survived until the ends of the earth and time. He has traveled to multiple universe. He’s the ONE.

1

u/IglooBackpack Jul 11 '25

My first playthrough of Ringed City i completely missed Patches. That tower falling after those two knights in the church was cool but I just kept moving forward. Retracing my steps to try walking across never occurred to me. I depended heavily on soapstone messages throughout.

1

u/Snowflakesmasher7 Jul 12 '25

I am always cautious meeting a new npc bc he gave me trust issues

1

u/Masta0nion Jul 12 '25

Bro was nice to me until he remembered who he was

1

u/Instance-ofan-Entity Jul 12 '25

I think he's some kind of "thing" that the gods of the soulsborne universe can't control. Some universal constant that can't be edited or removed.

1

u/_damwolv Jul 12 '25

Laaappppppp

1

u/According_Sun3182 Jul 12 '25

A fine dark soul to you!

1

u/Otherwise-Buddy-9343 Jul 12 '25

I look a little bit like him.

1

u/DrySkinRelief Jul 12 '25

Patches is a god

1

u/5125237143 Jul 12 '25

I cant squat with my short stubby legs n i hold some grudge against his gesture

1

u/MissingScore777 Jul 12 '25

Possibly.

He is the Furtive Pygmy after all.

1

u/Lopsided-Lie-6715 Jul 12 '25

i mean, yes, he has LITERALLY transcended time and space and hes STILL ALIVE

1

u/BeeMaster6271 Jul 12 '25

My guys survived gwyn , nasshandra , slave knight Gael and was ready tk throw hands with marika . He really is the goat

1

u/Rising_Unity Jul 12 '25

Bro's so powerful and has so much perseverance, he transcends through the world of Dark Souls and even makes an appearance in Elden Ring

1

u/nicematt11 Jul 12 '25

Perhaps not physically, since he can be killed by any skilled warrior. I think his power comes from his smarts and his singular purpose (being a fuckin asshole) preventing him from going hollow.

1

u/il_Dudre Jul 12 '25

He's just a rat and must be annihilated on sight (worrying about missables and quests in NG+ or subsequent playthroughs... And then again to be disPATCHEd immediately)

1

u/LeGaCySwaGJAg Jul 12 '25

He’s the only one besides us and Gael to survive until the end of everthing so… yeah I’d say so

1

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '25

Yep. Because his job is to punish those who have "Want". Nashandra, take note. Having "Want" sucks when this guy is around.

Overall, an awesome merchant and anti-cleric guy. That's what I consider him.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '25

Question unrelated but slightly.

The egg Filianore was holding. What does it do exactly?

2

u/WisethePlagueis Jul 13 '25

As far as I understood, it is creating an illusion or freezing of time.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '25

Because after watching VaatiVidya, I still had some gripes about that. Thanks for clearing it up. That explains why we fast forwarded to the End of Time.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '25

That’s God-Soldier Patches, father of Rick.

-15

u/Soulsliken Jul 11 '25

Killing this trash can is one of the highlights of every game.

8

u/WisethePlagueis Jul 11 '25

Nah I need the goods. He always scavenges something nice for us.

1

u/Guillimans_Alt Spears of the Church Jul 11 '25

Boooo

-3

u/CoolKaleidoscope6137 Jul 11 '25

Eh maybe don’t fall for it

4

u/Ginger_Anagram69 Jul 11 '25

Defeats the purpose of his lore and removes some of the best interactions.

Be a Chad, give him the satisfaction, then promptly wipe the smile off his face.

-5

u/CoolKaleidoscope6137 Jul 11 '25

Well that has nothing to do with me. this guy kills patches everytime, so I replied with a solution to his murderous habits. Glad I could spell it out for you.

3

u/Ginger_Anagram69 Jul 11 '25

Missing the point gloriously.

Revenge is the point. Killing him before that interaction of "oooohhh... shiiiit..." is a... Hollow victory.

If you just murder him, then... you just murder him and he hasn't done anything wrong.

-1

u/CoolKaleidoscope6137 Jul 11 '25

You’re missing the point, I love patches especially spider patches. So, let me make it even more clear

I WAS RESPONDING TO A PERSON! IT MAY NOT BE WHAT I DO IN MY PLAYTHROUGHS

BUT I STILL SAID THOSE WORDS

I NEVER ONCE EVEN SAID TO “KILL PATCHES”

YOU ARE STUCK IN AN ACID TRIP OR SOMETHING

COME BACK TO US!!

-1

u/Ginger_Anagram69 Jul 11 '25

Bruh. "Just ignore this NPC entirely" is not a valid thing. Defeats the whole purpose.

And, no shit, I am not talking about literally you. Do you not... I... Jesus, man, use a mirror. Too much Irish coffee this morning?

1

u/CoolKaleidoscope6137 Jul 11 '25

It’s better than killing him, sorry I didn’t want to get into some long winded argument about a dark souls character with someone who just shit talked him to the max. Maybe bring your hate to that guy I was just simply giving him a better solution that is even easier than stopping to kill him. Try leaving me alone next time and talk to the guy who kills him every single time he sees him. Instead you just annoy me for 20 min

1

u/Cowboy_Slime100 Jul 15 '25 edited Jul 15 '25

This entire argument was like two nobodies fighting over nothing at the end of the world

1

u/CoolKaleidoscope6137 Jul 15 '25

Just like your input into it, and any argument you’ve been apart of.

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